Mr. Dan Okoro is an Assistant Commissioner of Police, in charge of Area E Police Command, Festac, Lagos State. If there is one thing Okoro is best known for, it’s cracking cases which make people to sit up and take notice of criminal activities around them. But the one case which made him a household name, especially around and within security circles, was the unraveling of the murder of Cynthia Osokogu, the only daughter of General Frank Osokogu (rtd).
Cynthia’s corpse was discovered in a Lagos morgue a month after she was declared missing. It was later discovered that the lady was strangled to death by men she met on face book. It however took the tenacity and investigative acumen of Okoro and his men to find out the truth of how the lady was murdered and those behind it. In this chat with JULIANA FRANCIS, Okoro reveals the secret of his investigative prowess, jettisoning the very idea of black magic. Excerpt:
What attracted you to policing?
I read sociology, business administration at masters’ level. I also read law and did forensic investigation. I also read Public Administration and Local Government. Policing is an issue of a great passion. I wanted to see what I could achieve in term of combating the menace of crime.
At what point did you know it was police work you wanted to do?
It was after my youth service. After the service, I opted out for police work. It was not a mistake. It is something I had always wanted to do.
Do you feel fulfilled?
Yes, very much fulfilled. I have been in the job and I’m contributing and achieving my desire.
What is the secret behind your ability to crack high profile cases?
I’m a very astute police officer and a committed one. I took my bearing from a mentor, the present Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar. He’s an achiever. If you’re nurtured by somebody, you’re bound to work in line with the person’s philosophy. Since IGP is an achiever and having brought me up around such an environment, that was why I found myself working to make a difference and achieving a lot. This is why you see me handling high profile cases and cracking them. When I was under the IGP’s tutelage, I found out one of the most important attributes as a police officer was to be honest and straight forward.
As an area commander, I’m not supposed to be investigating cases. I’m just supposed to work on administrative capacity. But in contemporary policing, one should show case what he had done and achieved. This is why you see me working hard.
There is a rumour being peddled around that you use your personal money to investigate cases, including travelling outside the state to hunt for criminals. Is it true?
It’s very true. This present case that we’re showcasing today, all the expenses were bore by me. There’s another high profile case that I’m investigating right now. I just returned from the eastern parts the country, where I travelled to because of that case. All the expenses for the several trips are mine. I have done a lot with the network providers and all efforts were done by me. If you have passion for your job, you’ll go a long way in trying to achieve. You wouldn’t wait or ask anything from your complainants.
The case of the celebrated Cynthia Osokogu, all the expenses spent to investigate that case were from me. I didn’t demand, didn’t discuss, didn’t negotiate and didn’t ask anything from anybody! There were intrigues and that was the major passion that made me doggedly followed that investigation.
I was fulfilled that at the end of the day, I achieved and solved the case. Whatever I spent in the course of trying to crack the case was no longer my problem and I was not bothered.
What is your reaction to another rumour that you use charms (black magic) in order to be able to crack such high profile cases? Have you heard it too?
Yes, I have heard so much! People mystify one person who is achieving. And it’s because I have gone beyond the ordinary, but they should look at my profile. I’m a very sound police officer when it comes to knowledge and education. I have gone very far. I was the Human Right Chief Investigator in Bosnia, Yugoslavia. Nobody matched it to myth. It was due to my astuteness in investigating cases that I was made the chief investigator in far away Yugoslavia.
I spent time with the Egyptian Police Academy, with the elite force. There’s nothing like myth but knowledge. I’m a forensic investigator and as I speak with you now, I’m running my masters degree programme in Forensic and Psychological Investigation with the University Liverpool. Nobody will talk about that.
They’ll be making very parochial statements, very analogue. I have gone digital! This is contemporary policing. It’s no longer the days of case files. It’s about the knowledge you have and how you use it. And it’s a modern thing. I went to Benin Republic, across the border on decoy. This means as an undercover agent. That’s what’s done in western worlds and that’s what’s done in US.
You’re aware US went to Somalia. They went to Libya. Those operations are decoy. They went to Afghanistan and arrested someone who had connection with Osama Bin Laden. They went on decoy and undercover. Why won’t a Nigerian officer, who is astute, be seen doing all these sort of things? That was why I decided on my own to showcase and make a difference. And I should be seen as an officer who had contributed greatly in terms of crime busting in this country!
We heard you even you go on surveillance, taking risk, rather than send your men to do the job. What’s your reaction?
That’s very true. You know I had just told you that I recently returned from the east. I know that most of these undercover works are suicidal. But when it comes, especially from an informant, who wishes to remain unknown, I usually want to investigate such crimes myself. I have all it takes to make sure I achieve that particular feat without disclosing my source of information, to enable me the opportunity of receiving further information again from that source/informant. The truth is I trust myself and I know that I can handle such investigation. It’s not a question of being an arm chair area commander. So many Area Commanders are not doing it this way. The IGP knows that I have been very strong and solid in investigation, which was way, in his wisdom; he posted me to that area.
What legacy are you leaving for those working under you? Are you training them to become crack investigators too?
In the time spent with my officers, I have groomed them a lot. I have been able to impact a lot of knowledge into them. I can tell you that I have one of the best groups of officers. All that I know about police work and contemporary policing, I keep them updated. They’re on lectures every day and time with me. I try to keep them abreast. This is why most of them are very excellent in handling cases. I wouldn’t want the knowledge I have to go with me. Thus I have been able to designate and impact all that I know into them.
What is your advice to young officers?
Young officers should embrace knowledge and educate themselves! They should no longer wait for the Nigeria Police Force to train them. They should go and restructure and rebrand themselves in terms of knowledge. It’s that knowledge that will put them ahead of others. If they remain moribund, they can’t and will not achieve anything! The only way they can be an achiever as a young officer, is to embrace knowledge.
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