Like the saying that Integrity is the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles. It means consistently acting in accordance with those principles, even when it’s difficult or no one is watching.
The above described Sentome Obi, a Superintendent of Police (SP) attached to the Bayelsa State Police Command for being being trustworthy, and maintaining a strong moral character during his official duty as Nigerian police officer.
Obi, a Bayelsa native and Head of the Financial and Cybercrime Unit at Zone 16 Command, Yenagoa. was recently honored for the honourable act of rejecting a $17,000 bribe to derail a sensitive investigation.
SP Sentome Obi who was also recipient of the Police Officer of the Year 2024 and IGP Integrity Award was honoured at a high-level state banquet organised by the Bayelsa State Government.
He spoke with The Nation’s OKUNGBOWA AIWERIE
What informed your decision to reject a 17,000 dollars bribe?
Well, integrity counts. $17,000 is actually a huge amount of money. But we are working for the society; our salaries are from tax payers and we must justify it. So, integrity counts in this case. Those were the facts that necessitated my rejection of the $17000 bribe.
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Can you recount what happened and how you ended up rejecting it?
It was a case based on incredible intelligence of suspects who specialise in organ harvesting, rituals and other fraudulent activities. Based on credible intelligence, it was acted upon and the suspects were arrested and several items were recovered. Which goes to confirm that the intelligence was credible.
The suspects now decided to bribe their way out so that it would not come to public knowledge. But based on the training and the integrity we have been mentored and tutored to uphold, we rejected that offer and they were brought to book.
The suspects were paraded sometime last year; around 7th of December, 2024. They were later charged to court.
Do you regret refusing the bribe, knowing that $17,000 is a lot of money?
Not at all. Regret is not even to be mentioned in this case. $17,000 is a huge amount; that is millions of naira. I have never seen that type of money in all my life. But you will recall that it is a regimented organization. The integrity of the organisation is at stake.
Now, ordinarily, some people must have felt like why didn’t we collect the money and just enrich ourselves? But what comes ahead is better than what they are thinking. And today, as you can see, the governor has rewarded me with a three-bedroom bungalow and a brand new car.
So, integrity really pays. You will agree with me that many people have negative perception of the police. But this is going to tell you that we still have the good ones. And to make it clear to everybody in the society, in every organisation we have the bad eggs.
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So, the police is a reflection of the society. The authorities keep on educating, sensitising and telling us. We also have other seasoned police officers who have integrity.
How did your family react to the news that you rejected the bribe? Were they happy or sad that you missed an opportunity to become a millionaire?
It was mixed feelings. Some were happy and others were not. But in the end all are now happy based on the reward from the state government and recognition by various bodies.
The Nigeria Police Force has a negative image in the eyes of many Nigerians. Do you think rejecting the money will help in projecting a positive image of the police?
Very well. It has gone a long way to tell people that we still have good police officers and we are trying our best to leave up to expectations.
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What is your advice to fellow officers?
Well, they should leave up to expectations. It is not just about the money; integrity counts: who you are, the family that you are coming from, the organisation that you are representing. So, why not do your best? Do the work as it is, forget about bribe, forget about intimidating, forget about turning white to black. The reward actually pays off just as you have seen.
If you have this opportunity again, will you reject or accept it?
I will keep on rejecting and perhaps more bedroom flats and more cars will come as rewards.
Has the police authorities taken cognizance of what you have done?
Very well. I fact, it might interest you to know that I won the best police officer of the year 2024. The IGP awarded me that, and the President, who was represented by the Senate President, was there to give me the award.
I am also the IGP award winner of the integrity police officer of the year. These show that the police hierarchy took cognizance of every effort made by policemen.