Jesus Christ apparently did not have the police in mind when he said that a prophet has no honour among his own people. Yet that seems the lot of the members of the Nigeria Police Force with regard to how much respect they command abroad while they are largely despised by their own compatriots.
As a matter of fact, the attacks on police stations and the killing and maiming of policemen in the recent #EndSARS protests is widely seen as evidence of how much disdain the people have for them. The Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, reckoned that no fewer than 22 policemen were killed during the protests while about 205 police stations were destroyed.
But in a fit of irony, a Nigerian policewoman on foreign mission in far away Mali was being honoured by the United Nations in recognition of her selfless service simultaneously as her compatriots were being persecuted at home. Chief Superintendent Catherine Ekwutosi Ugorji, a Nigerian police woman serving with the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA), was selected by the United Nations as one of two runners-up for the prestigious UN Woman Police Officer of the Year award for 2020.
“Through both her words and actions, United Nations Police Officer Ugorji exemplifies the best of United Nations policing,” said Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix. Only 21 of the 1,300 UN policewomen deployed in UN peacekeeping operations were said to have been nominated for the award with Ugorji emerging among the top three.
The year’s winner, Chief Inspector Doreen Malambo of Zambia, who serves with the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), is billed to receive the award during a virtual ceremony presided over by Mr. Lacroix on November 3. Superintendent Rebecca Nnanga of Cameroon, serving with the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA), is the other runner-up.
Congratulating Ugorji for being chosen as a runner-up, UN Police Advisor Luis Carrilho, said: “MINUSMA United Nations Police Officer Ugorji’s leadership of three Formed Police Units in Gao has been remarkable, and Catherine (Ugorji) has introduced tactical operations that have been instrumental in reducing crime in the area, in support of the Malian security forces and the host population.
“In addition to this very demanding role, Chief Superintendent Ugorji has worked diligently to improve living conditions for women police officers so they can serve safely and with dignity.”
Deployed to the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) in 2018, Ugorji was said to have demonstrated exemplary conduct throughout her deployment in Mali where she serves as a Formed Police Unit (FPU) Coordinator in Gao.
She has been liaising and coordinating with local authorities and civil society to finalise United Nations Police operations to reassure the population in the conduct of normal activities in an area of insecurity due to the incursion of terrorist and armed groups.
