Naij.com Guest Writer On Necessary Changes To Nigerian Police Force

Legit.ng guest writer Hussain Obaro from Kwara (Ilorin State), remembering his unpleasant and fruitless encounter with the Nigerian police, muses upon what needs to be changed in our country and in our mindset for the police to become more people-oriented and people-friendly.

"My nephew was once asked to describe the function and duty of the police, to which the little boy replied: "Simple! Police points gun at vehicles on the highways and asks them to bring money." As funny as this may seem, it is the reality many Nigerians have to face daily.

"I remember vividly as if it was yesterday: I had just returned from Imo State where I was posted for my National Youth Service. A group of touts in my area harassed me just because I refused to "drop something" from what the government had "settled" me with upon completion of my NYSC scheme. I thought it was something I could handle until things eventually got out of hand. I was attacked, beaten, my clothes were torn.

"As a law-abiding citizen, I resisted the urge to fight back. I located the nearby police station at Oja-Oba area of Ilorin to report what had happened. There, I was first directed to buy two white plain sheets of paper, a ruler, a blue ballpoint pen and two office flat files. In uttermost surprise, I asked if I was going to write an exam, but the policemen retorted by saying I surely wouldn't want them to write down my "statement" on their clothes.

"It took them almost two hours to finally document my complains. When I asked them to arrest the thugs, I was instructed to give them N2,000 so they could fuel their vehicle. The policemen further frustrated me by asking to pay another N2,000 for them to "wet" their pockets. I eventually ended up spending about N4,000 before the police could finally act.

"As soon as the thugs in question were delivered to the station, they were asked to give their own statements. It was at this point that one of the female police officers discovered that the boys were natives of her Ijebu-speaking part of Ogun State. I presumed the woman was the senior officer to the officers on duty because they all referred to her as "mummy". When the police were done talking to the thugs, the "mummy" spoke with them privately. She then approached me and requested that I gave her N750 to buy an MTN recharge card, which I vehemently refused. She turned to the boys and spoke to them in Ijebu dialect. Some of them immediately put together the sum of N8,000 and handed the money to her. To my dismay, the police said the boys were free to go!

"I felt cheated, humiliated and frustrated. I engaged in an intense argument with them. I demanded an explanation as to why they had accepted the bribe from the thugs and released them. For this, I was arrested and detained until the next day on a charge of constituting nuisance in a police station.

"In Nigeria, the police have not been effectively reformed to suit modern policing. The modus operandi of the Nigeria police is still such that the lives and property of authorities, the rich and, of course, those of the "Ogas at the top" are given a priority at the expense of the less privileged Nigerians.

"Inadequate man-power and lack of modern operational equipment and gadgets is the bane of effective and modern policing in Nigeria. Nigeria can only boast of about 500,000 officers and men, which is grossly insufficient compared to our population of more than 170 million. More than 60% of these men are either deployed to road-blocks or attached to politicians and/or the rich.

"When you visit a police station, especially at night, to report an emergency, you can hardly find any officer at the stations. Even if one or two officers are around, they tell you that all the vehicles have gone for road-blocks so they can't possibly follow you to the scene of the crime.

"In this 21century, when the world has gone digital and operations, investigations and documentations are being computerized, the Nigerian police is far behind.

"The public are still required to give statements with pen and paper, interrogatory confessions are still being forced out through torture, which results in injuries and sometimes death.

"Alleged criminals are paraded publicly and displayed on pages of newspapers and television sets without even being pronounced guilty by a competent court of law. The principle of "innocence until proven guilty" has since been thrown into the bin.

'We have a police that is not people-friendly. Peaceful protests and rallies suddenly turn violent and bloody as soon as the police gets there.

"The fundamental human rights of the citizenry are not respected, court rulings and injunctions are not obeyed; extra-judicial killings and "accidental" discharges, unregulated use of teargas with disregard to the health implications to the citizenry have almost become a daily routine.

"Recruitments into the police force have become the "who-you-know" exercise as politicians now easily use their connections and might get their political thugs into the force.

"There is an urgent need for the Nigeria Police Force to be effectively reformed and repositioned to quell insurgency and meet challenges of modernization, nation-building and the Transformation Agenda.

'Yes, the current Inspector General of the police, Mohammed Dahiru Abubakar, on assumption of duty, advocated a N50,000 minimum wage for a constable in the force, saying such will go a long way to boost morale and promote efficiency; he has also ordered about 300 patrol vehicles to be deployed to all major roads the country. Still, much more still needs to be done.

"Everywhere in the world, the mentality and concept of policing has changed from the normal conventional policing into a more people-friendly and people-centered, community-based policing. Crime prevention rather than crime management is now the in-thing, and the approach is no longer people-to-police but police-to-people in such a way that the police doesn't stay at the station expecting the public to call or come to report crimes, but the police stays and lives amidst the people so as to prevent them from committing crimes.

"The use of the information and communications technology and modern electronic gadgets like CCTV cameras, lie detectors, etc. have made the job of policing easier and more effective all over the world. Nigeria cannot afford to lag behind if it is to take its rightful place as the leader in Africa.

"Unfortunately, we still don't have a free single-digit police phone number available to every Nigerian, apart from the recently launched 112 which connects to the Department of State Security (DSS).

"The Nigeria police should computerize not only recordkeeping and documentations, but also investigations, interrogations and crime detection operations.

"Funding of the police has become a challenge. Recently, the idea of the state police to be funded by state governments have been strongly advocated. There are fears, however, that some governors may use the state police to terrorize and harass its citizens, to witch-hunt political opponents and perceived enemies.

"The issue of welfare of Nigeria policemen worries security experts, analysts and, of course, every security-minded Nigerian. The slums (barracks) where some policemen reside cannot bring out the best in our officers. Efforts are already in progress at renovating existing barracks and building new ones. But yet, modern policing strategies entail that the police reside and live with the people! Life and hazard insurance is a must for the police.

"Recruitment and training of police should be a more transparent exercise. The whole process should be restructured, as there is a pattern which allows the "wrong" people to get into the force. Criminals, political thugs, people who are morally bankrupt and indisciplined find their way into the force just because they have "godfathers". We do not have an effective tactical and psychological screening strategy in place to fish them out.

"Psychologists, guardian counselors and psychiatrists should be part of the training of aspiring policemen to ensure that officers who would eventually evolve are mentally and psychologically fit and disciplined to know that they don't have to point a gun at a vehicle on a highway indiscriminately; to know that they don't have to jump in front of a moving vehicle like an armed robber; to know that their guns and teargas canisters are not their greatest strength; to know that every alleged criminal is innocent until proven guilty by a competent court of law; to know that they serve to secure and protect lives and properties of Nigerians; to know better than be used by politicians, the rich and the authorities to oppress and harass the people."

Previously, we have discussed the economic advantages of using coins, reviewed (and criticized) the current NYSC scheme, tried to guess if Nigeria will ever see the days when uninterrupted power supply would become a reality, and hoped for the best for the still-missing Chibok girls on the day when they finally return home.

Would you like us to publish your own opinion? Please, do not hesitate to submit your articles and questions on further collaboration to info@naij.com.

Source: Legit.ng