The Police Force in Nigeria Needs A Total Overhaul--My personal recommendation

After the recent bomb blast at the Force Headquarters of the Nigerian Police Force, the question of security and Police Reforms has once again been brought to the front burner. Well, I choose to talk about the police reform.

The Nigerian Police Force consists of slightly over 340,000 men and women. Out of this figure, over 32% of them are either attached to politicians, government technocrats, VIPs, criminal VIP elements and people who know VIPs.

The painful part is that best trained and educated police officers are in this 32% being used as bodyguards. As a matter of fact, you are almost considered as a failure or nondescript Junior Officer in the NPF if you can’t secure any of these juicy VIP jobs. The remaining of the 150,000,000 ‘ordinary Nigerians’ are left at the mercy of the ‘almost’ mediocre remaining 68% policemen.

Even within the 68% left, ¼ of them are strategically posted to financially lucrative check-points to ostensibly curb the ever increasing armed robbery rate as the surreptitiously harass and extort money from innocent road commuters, ‘Okada riders’ (commercial rickshaw or motorcycle riders), pedestrians and by-standers alike—while the real criminals slip through their radars.

Then another ¼ just sit in their patrol vans to discuss socio-political issues while some crime takes place roughly 800 metres from their location or they simply serenade the cities with their noisy sirens anytime they’re trying to beat the traffic. We are now left with the remaining 2/4 to tend to us security wise.

Isn’t it embarrassing each time you attend a public function in Nigeria; you are rudely faced with the unsightly presence of heavily armed, uniformed Mobile Police men (MOPOL) and Counter-terrorist officers clustering about the place all in the name of giving VIP protection to some politician (active/ retired) or VIP?  How do you explain a Senator or Rep member’s moving around with 4 – 10 heavily armed policemen? Why do retired politicians still use up to 3 policemen? Who would protect the ‘Ordinary Nigerians’? – And yet we blankly wonder why crime is on the rise.

It is now traditional for police officers attached to politicians to get caught up in private misunderstandings of their politician bosses with other politicians—that’s why we have incidents of officers attached to Politician (x) clashing with their counterparts attached to Politician (y) at public functions.

Isn’t it more ridiculous when you see the Counter-terrorist police officers fully dressed up and wearing distinguished & conspicuous red berets in public—doesn’t that defeat the whole aim of being a counter-terrorist agent—aren’t they supposed to blend into the crowd unseen?

More perturbing is the fact that some of these bodyguard policemen have been reduced to domestic messengers? It is no longer an uncommon sight to see fully dressed police officers pricing meat at the local abattoirs or even loading their “oga’s” utility vehicles with bags of rice, beans or garri. Some of them are verbally and in some cases; physically assaulted by their surrogate bosses or spouses—what an insult to the uniform.

State Governors are supposed to be Chief Security Officers of their respective states but, in Nigeria that just a ‘politically correct’ assumption. Every State Police Commissioner takes his final directives from the Inspector General of Police (IGP) via his lieutenant DIGs and AIGs. The Governor can order/ command and shout all he wants but just one gesture from the IGP could effortlessly countermand that order.

Well in light of the topic under review, here are some of my personal recommendations:

1)      A Federal body guard agency or unit should be formed purely to protect politicians and VIPs.

1. They could draw their pioneer agents from the SSS and the MOPOPL of the NPF
2. The y would not have any Law Enforcement powers – just protection.
   1.                                                                i.      They can’t arrest or detain people for more than 2hours.
3. They would NOT be uniformed.
4. They must report to the local Police within the jurisdiction they operate daily.
5. They would not carry arms off duty.

2)      The NPF should be scrapped in order to give more definition to the SSS and to pave way for State and Local Government police—the concept of community policing.

3)      Only the President, Vice President & Governors should have any form of uniformed protection around them.

4)      The SSS should have administrative over-sight function over the fragmented police forces.

1. This should check the abuse of powers by Governors or Local Government Chairmen.
2. They should have a special department devoted to monitoring any illegal activity of the fragmented police forces.
3. They could requisition/ commandeer the local police force during federal operations.

5)      The State Police or Local Government Police should have a Chief Constable/ Commissioner heading its police force

1. Such an official may be elected into office or appointed from within its ranks by the Governor or Local Government Chairman.
2. Though they would head the police, they shouldn’t posses any form of Law Enforcement powers—purely administrative.

6)      Police Officers shouldn’t live in barracks like soldiers.

1. They should blend in with their local community.
2. That way, they would feel what every other civilian feels.

7)      MOPOL or any other specialized branch of the Police should not be seen wandering about—except when needed.

8)      The police must be well paid

9)      Everyone (no matter who you are) must by law, address police officers as “Officer” or their ranks and the police officers must (by law) address you as “sir” or “ma/ ma’am/ madam”.

10)   Once the police officer is off duty, he or she should be considered a normal civilian.

11)   There must be a special unit in the police force dedicated to public—in cases of excesses by any member of the Police Force.

12)   Upon entry graduates and non-graduates must be trained together.

1. The graduate can only prove to be superior to the non-graduate by passing all his or her promotional and evaluation exams more than the non-graduates.
2. By default, the promotion of graduate officers should be faster than that of non-graduate officers.

13)   Nigerians and Non-Nigerians should be encouraged to join the police.

14)   They should scrap the military styled ‘Officer & other ranks’ system.

1. Every policeman or woman should be considered a Police Officer.
2. Every new recruit must start from the lowly rank of ‘Constable’ – however the promotion of graduates should be faster than that of non-graduates.

15)   All police officers must undergo a compulsory evaluation exam every 9months—any unfit officer should be weeded out.

1. To check the mental / psychological state
2. To check the communication skills with the public.
3. For general competence.

16)   Police officers must be inspected by their superiors every morning to ensure that they are properly dressed to face the public.

Only when most of these things are addressed that we could have a safer Nigerians-- the Police are human beings with feelings too.

Long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria.