The road tragedy in Ibadan, by Chris Adetayo

What happened in Ibadan a few days ago that ended the life of a boy of 14 was shocking. I have now watched the video of the incident. It was, to paraphrase Shakespear, a case of Tragedy of Errors. Everything that could go wrong went wrong.

The driver (and father of the victim) was reckless and irresponsible. When that number of uniformed personnel are trying to stop you, attempting to forcefully get away is inviting disaster. The Police claim that his car was fully tinted, and they feared he had abducted someone or upto something very sinister. Hence, they did all they could to stop him. Given the man’s behaviour (driving against traffic, refusing lawful orders to stop, crashing through human and vehicular barricades), and the times we live in, the Police explanation is, in my view, reasonable and, at the very least, provides then an excuse for what followed.

But should a shot have been fired? No. It was risky. Even if the attempt was at the tyres of the car as claimed, a moving vehicle is difficult to properly target, especially by improperly trained marksmen.

What were the options left to the Police? A pursuit of the driver – and that is hoping the police vehicle had enough fuel to do so. But even a pursuit could have endangered other members of the public – motorists, pedestrians, shop owners etc. Still, it would have been a better option.

Would it have been okay to just let the man drive away in the knowledge that they had the car’s plate number? This is debatable. If someone in it was abducted, once they get away, the police will be playing catch up and may never resolve the case. In such an outcome, they will be pilloried for allowing a suspect to get away so easily.

Ultimately, the major blame rests on the driver. He risked his own life, endangered the lives of law enforcement officers, behaved like an outlaw, and was the instigator of the set of events that ultimately led to the death of his own child. A heavy price to pay for avoiding a few minutes of interrogation and maybe a fine.

The Police too must shoulder some blame and learn lessons from this. Being quick to the trigger can have disastrous consequences. They must learn de-escalation techniques and not always think that brute force is the first and best option.

For our society, even more lessons abound for us to learn. Lessons about respecting laws (especially traffic laws), respecting and obeying law enforcement, improving our knowledge of first aid and how to manage medical emergencies etc.

The bit about respecting traffic laws is critical. For right across the country, and especially in the major cities, the disobedience to traffic laws is staggering. Reckless driving is the norm. Ibadan has long been notorious for this. Abuja, despite its pristine roads and perhaps because of this, is a free-for-all, no-holds-barred race course. Driver training, in our land, remains a self-help venture with virtually no regulation. We can’t continue like this!