Data from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) on corruption and policing reveals that, in 2019, police officers in Nigeria accounted for the highest number of bribes paid to public officials in the country, at 35.7%.  Data from another survey done by UNODC and National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on  Corruption in Nigeria: Patterns and Trends published in 2024 suggests that that one out of two male police officers (46 per cent) engage in bribery when interacting with the public, while one out of three female police officers (28 per cent) do same.

Many Nigerians would not find this surprising, given the public perception of the Nigerian Police Force, partly due to documented cases of brutality against civilians and widespread extortion perpetrated by officers. 

In 2022, Superintendent Innocent Ayabotu, Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of ‘A’ Division Police Station Calabar, Cross River State, was nominated for Accountability Lab Nigeria’s Integrity Icon campaign, a campaign to find, celebrate, and connect honest government officials.  The nomination was made by one of the officers who worked under Ayabotu at ‘A’ Division, ASP Linus Akesa.

Akesa describes him as “upright,” noting that Ayabotu does not compromise on the truth. “What is wrong, he will tell you it is wrong. What is good, he will tell you it is good, irrespective of who you are,” Akesa stated. 

For Ayabotu, who is now Chief Superintendent of Police, his motivation as a police officer is to “give service to those in need.” While at ‘A’ division, Calabar, he lived up to this by setting a standard that improved public trust in the police, even as he  actively worked to eradicate cultism. 

A Calabar resident who spoke with Accountability Lab Nigeria in 2022 said, “Since he [Ayabotu] became DPO, this community has benefitted from his good works. Before now, we had this mentality that the police cannot do without bribes. Having Mr. Innocent here, you don’t need money to table your case.”

Ayabotu’s demeanour and conduct earned him the confidence of the people in his community in Calabar, restoring their trust in the men and women of the force who have sworn oaths to serve and protect.

Despite his success with the residents, Ayabotu still faces scenarios that require steadfastness and resolve to continue doing the right thing. 

He recounted a time when a politician approached him while he was DPO at A Division, Calabar, and offered him money so he would keep his personal police escort with him rather than have him redeployed on another assignment as the system naturally requires.

 “Somebody came and brought money in an envelope. He said he wanted his boy to be posted, and I said no, I don’t do that,” he explains. 

In scenarios like this, Ayabotu says people are usually transfixed at his resolve but eventually realise that he won’t budge and leave.

“With such principles, even people who work with you already know. When someone comes with such an intention, they’ll say, ‘don’t go oh’’ knowing I won’t be a party to it,” says Ayabotu.

This is one of several ‘requests’ police officers are faced with daily. In Nigeria, some individuals with contacts or confidence often call on police officers when they need favours. From reporting an infringement on their rights to seeking muscle for  intimidation, every day presents difficult decisions, and Ayabotu is one who has sworn to use his position for good.

As part of his commitment to justice and eradicating crime, Ayabotu noticed that cultism was prevalent and decided to take action. This he did by sensitisation campaigns that target the youth. 

“Cultism has been one of the major social vices that has been affecting society, so my focus is to talk to students in primary and secondary schools to warn them about the dangers of cultism,” he explains.

He said he usually begins his interactions by demystifying and “debunking fallacies that make people join” and explains how they use deception and fear as tools to get young people to join these cults. 

CSP Ayabotu said he has visited several schools in Cross River State, taking the gospel on the dangers of cultism, and every visit ends with an interactive session where the students ask the questions on their minds, like the boy who wondered how cultism is bad if it was brought by the great Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka. 

“There are more than 100 boys that we have engaged. Even some of them will come, ‘I am a cultist; help me out. I was forcefully initiated’. He says they have gone as far as sending some of these young men out of Cross River for fear of attacks by their former cult members.

According to an article by Isaac Ajayi, Haastrup T. Ekundayo, and F. M. Osalusi titled Menace of Cultism in Nigerian Tertiary Institutions: The Way Out, some of the causes of cultism in tertiary institutions include the influence of peer groups, parental backgrounds, erosion of education standards, the militarization of the Nigerian polity, a lack of recreational facilities, the quest for power and protection, and societal decadence. 

In an effort to advocate against societal decadence and cultism, Ayabotu wrote a book titled ‘Dangers of Cultism’, which he uses as a resource to address this issue that is cutting young lives short. 

Ayabotu might seem like an exception to the rule, breaking the stereotype that Nigerian police officers lack integrity, always seek bribes, and rarely perform good deeds without incentives. However, there are others like him who are helping to rebuild the tarnished image of the Force. 

In April 2024, an officer of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) broke the internet after the news of his extraordinary act made headlines. Superintendent Ibrahim Sini was celebrated by the NPF for exhibiting strong will when he rejected a bribe of N150 million while  investigating a case of fraud and diversion of funds against the CEO of an oil and gas downstream company.

 Like CSP Ayabotu, Sini was offered a bribe in the line of duty to change the outcome of his and his team’s investigation. Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Edwin Eloho, head of the Counter-Intelligence Unit (CIU), gave Sini and his team the task of unravelling the case of diversion of funds against a chief executive officer of an oil company. 

However, in the course of the investigation, the oil company boss was alleged to have offered the sum of N150 million to the investigators to compromise their findings.

In an interview granted to Leadership Newspaper, Sini was offered the bribe to  “admit him to bail, write a report in his favour and also release his international passport to enable him to travel abroad.”

Like Sini and Ayabotu, celebrating and acknowledging  acts of integrity in men and women of the force can serve as an example to others, further reinforcing that doing the right thing is, indeed, the right thing to do.

From the accounts of his officers, community members, and even his Facebook friends, Innocent Ayabotu has dedicated his life to one of service, preaching his gospel of morality and advocating against cultism. He is one of many police officers committed to protecting citizens and upholding their oath to secure lives and property.

This report is championed by Accountability Lab Nigeria and sponsored by the John D. and Catherine D. MacArthur Foundation and Luminate.