VICTORIA EDEME speaks to a 77-year-old retired policeman and the Chief Security Officer of Justrite Superstores Limited, Michael Okonta, on his policing career and retirement
Where were you born and what was your childhood like?
I was born on September 29, 1947, in my hometown, Abavo, in the Ika South Local Government Area of Delta State, where I also grew up. I am the third of 10 children – six boys and four girls. I was a very stubborn boy. People in my hometown are predominantly farmers but I never liked farming. At that time, farming was not paying anybody and was full of suffering. It takes a lot of energy. My age mates who were farmers now look like my grandfather. My father didn’t like me so much because I didn’t go to the farm when he asked me to. So while my elder brothers went to the farm, my father sent me to school.
Going to school then was a form of punishment but it favoured me. My immediate elder brother cannot read or write. My parents were uneducated, and my father didn’t send all his children to school because he needed them on his farm. I started primary school in 1957 in my village. Obafemi Awolowo had just introduced free education in the Western Region before it came to the Bendel area in 1957. That was how I started primary school at 10 years old.
What was the most difficult challenge you had as a child?
I was tagged as one of the ‘bad boys’ because I didn’t like going to the farm. Within me, I knew I was not bad. After I finished my primary education in 1962, my father sent me to Sapele in 1963 to be an electrician/radio mechanic at Vivid Technical Institute along Yoruba Road in Sapele. I was at the institute for three years. The first year was for theory, while the second and third years were for practical. When I graduated, I was employed by the African Timber and Plywood Company in Sapele. Later, the Civil War broke out in 1967 and we had to return to our hometowns. I rode a bicycle from Sapele to Agbor, about 75 miles.
How was your experience during the Civil War?
The Biafran soldiers came to Sapele through River Ethiope and occupied the entire Midwest, now known as Delta and Edo states. So we all had to go back to our hometowns. When I came back from Sapele, I had nothing to do again. I started doing petty trading. One day, I boarded a public transport bus to Sapele to go and purchase ‘mangala’ fish and prawns so that I could bring them back to sell in my hometown. I was caught in the war again as the Biafrans were being sent out of Sapele. I was arrested as one of the soldiers, which I was not. The military had its coded language at that time. They spoke the language to me and I couldn’t respond. For that reason, they agreed that I was not one of the soldiers. They presented me twice to be killed but a commandant told them that I was not a Biafran soldier. I was 20 years old then. So the commandant said I should be working with him. He gave me a mess pan which I used to eat. I started washing and ironing for the commandant. The commandant was then transferred to Calabar. After his transfer, I went back to my hometown.
What did you engage in after returning to your hometown?
On my return to my hometown, I decided to learn how to drive. I learned how to drive for a year and six months, as the Civil War was still ongoing. Upon completing the learning, I didn’t have a driving licence because there was only one office in the federation where it could be acquired. The office was in Lagos. So when you apply for a driving licence, you may have to wait for seven years before getting it. While waiting for the licence, you can get a learner’s permit to allow you to drive freely. It was in 1971 that the licensing office was decentralised to states. My licence was sent to Ogwashi Uku and I went there to claim it. I became a taxi driver then and plied Agbor, Obiaruku, Abraka, and Warri. I later joined a group of lawyers and started driving one of them as a law clerk/driver.
When we went to a court at Agbor, I saw one lawyer identified as Barrister Dunku. He said I looked so bright and asked if I would like to join the police and I replied in the affirmative. He then gave me a copy of the Nigerian Observer where the advertisement was published, stating that the police recruitment was ongoing in Benin. The next morning, I told my boss that my mother was not feeling fine and I wanted to go and see her. He permitted me and I boarded a vehicle to Benin. I spent four shillings, equivalent to 40 kobo, from Sapele to Benin. When I got there, there were so many people and the queue was in a snake form to contain all of us. When I was there, a certain man started selecting tall men to leave the line and form another line. So I became the fifth person on the new line. After we were measured, I was among those selected to sit for the exams, which was part of the application process.
The exams were marked that same day and I got 10/10. Instantly, I was made the No. 1 person to be selected. We were asked to come for a medical test the next day at a specialist hospital on Ring Road, Benin. After the test, we were asked to go back to our homes. One day while I was with the lawyer I worked for, a dispatch rider came looking for me. He gave me a document that stated that I had been recruited into the police force and was to resume in two days. That was in 1974. In the documents, I was asked to buy an iron bucket, cutlass, brooms, white canvas/socks, black canvas/socks, two round neck shirts, and two khaki shorts. I told my boss about my recruitment but he didn’t respond because he didn’t want to let me go. I told his wife and she gave me N50, which I used to purchase the items I needed. Everything I bought was N32 and I proceeded to Benin. I was selected to attend the Police College, Ikeja.
What was your first salary as a policeman?
Initially, we were told we would be paid £16, equivalent to N32 then. While we were in the police college, the minimum wage was reviewed to N82, and my first salary was N120. I used the money to buy a Pronto watch, a turntable, and other items.
Have you always known that you would be a policeman or you had a different plan?
When my mother was pregnant with me, she went to a soothsayer who told her that she should not give birth to me in my hometown. So she went to a neighbouring town when she was due. According to my mum, when I was born, I didn’t cry for two days. My mother went back to the soothsayer who told her that people from my hometown blocked my mouth from crying. She also told me that the soothsayer said that my wealth was in Lagos, I would not die a violent death and I would be a ‘porice’ as she called it then. I was surprised when she told me this while growing up because I knew only my hometown. It was when I joined the police that everything started falling in line with what she said.
What was your career like?
As a policeman, there were a series of attempted assassinations of me but they never materialised. I was part of the team that started the Rapid Response Squad with Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (retd.), which was then known as Operation Sweep. When Bola Tinubu came in as Lagos State governor, he renamed it the RRS. At that time, a renowned criminal, Sina Rambo, was terrorising Lagos and beyond. At that time, we used to be alerted by radio to go and stop robbery operations. During one of those response operations on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, many policemen were killed but I survived.
The first assassination attempt was when I was transferred to Benin in 2006. I was staying at a filling station and one night, robbers attacked and started shooting. I had an AK-47 but I did not shoot because I wanted them to waste their ammunition. They gained entrance to the storey building where I lived but I had locked my door. This was around 2am. They tried to enter my house but a woman they captured told them that the occupants were not around. They insisted that they wanted to enter where I stayed. I was overhearing them but didn’t say anything. I prayed and told God to give me the power to disorganise the robbers or possibly kill them. I told God that if it was that day I was going to die, He should accept my soul.
After my prayer, I cocked my gun. When the robbers were unable to enter, they started breaking the wall with a sledgehammer. When the hole was big enough and one of the robbers put his head into it so he could open the door from inside, I fired a shot and burst his ear. As that robber was rolling down the stairs after the shot, I shot four more robbers. The Divisional Police Officer at Ekiadolor told me that he heard gunshots but didn’t know that I was the one being attacked. I had only 11 rounds of ammunition. I successfully used six and five were on target. The Commissioner of Police wrote to the Inspector-General of Police, and they gave me an award and commendation, and I was promoted. I left the filling station and got a house elsewhere.
Another operation I remembered was when we mapped out a strategy to repel robbers at a place known as Evil Forest in Benin. We trekked for over three kilometres and waited for the robbers to come out from their hideout. When four of them came out from the hideout, they were brought down. We decided to take the risk and it paid off.
When did you marry?
I got married on March 19, 1977. It was immediately after FESTAC 77. I was 30 then. I was a constable.
How did you meet your wife?
That was about 48 years ago. During our time, your family members could tell you about a good person that you could marry, and it was left for you to go and approach her. In my case, I told my friend that I was looking for a wife to marry. I was the only one left to get married among my friends, but I said that I would not get married till I got a job. So he told me that there was a fine girl whose father was very strict. He directed me to the girl and I went to her where she was learning tailoring. I told her I wanted to marry her and she asked me what I did for a living. I told her that I was a policeman and she said she didn’t have a say in the matter and I had to go see her father. The following day, I called one of my cousins to accompany me to see the father.
When we got there, her father told us that his daughter was not of marriageable age and that I shouldn’t come again. I still went there the next day but the father insisted. I was so pained. He asked me questions about my background and told me not to come again. I met someone else who helped me talk to her father and he agreed. After he did a background check on me, he allowed me to marry his daughter. We got married at St John Catholic Church, Agbor. We started living our lives, till we got to where we are today.
How many children do you have?
I have seven children; three boys and four girls.
What’s the usual reaction of your children to your role as a policeman?
They are so supportive, special thanks to their mother. God blessed me by giving me those children. They are all graduates and have children too.
What year did you retire and how has life been after retirement?
I retired in Zone 5, Benin, on September 1, 2009, after completing 35 years in service. I retired as a Deputy Superintendent of Police. My retirement is better than when I was in service. I currently work as the Chief Security Officer at Justrite Superstores Limited in Nigeria. I have supervisors attached to each branch; they all report to me. It’s a good place to work in.
What are you most fulfilled about?
The fulfilment I have in life is that I have great children. When your children obey you and listen to your words, sickness won’t come to you. So I’m very much fulfilled with their actions and the traditional education given to them by their mother.
