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Nigerian Police: Grappling with policing 90 years after

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By Chimezie Udechukwu

Conflicts around the world are increasing – whatever form they take or assume; whether as response to unpopular policies by governments, clashes among ethnic groups, border disputes, the struggle for resource control, religious crises or even the most recent and indeed frequent – terrorism. These project an image of the Hobbesian state of nature where life is solitary, brutish, nasty and short – an era when might was right, when a strong man can be murdered in his sleep by another strong man and his estate plundered.

In explaining the evolution of state, Thomas Hobbes, John Locke and Jean Jacques Rousseau advanced the theory of the social contract, establishing in their separate treatise, the need for the formation of a central system of governance, where the weak can be protected and prosperity can thrive. Thus, the modern state as we know it today is function of the willingness of citizens to surrender their individual mandate to central authority – the leviathan, who assures them of protection from external aggression and internal civil disorder.

Thus a contract was born between the governed and the governing class. A functional machinery to administer these contracts known as the government was formed. The government’s duty is to protect its citizens from foreign invasion, thus allowing them to go about their legitimate business in an atmosphere that promotes prosperity and sustainable development. The citizens on their part have the responsibility of obeying the rules and regulations and also contributing some money for their proceeds as maintenance of the government. This is how the payment of taxes and, indeed the policing system began.

Prior to the colonial incursion into Africa, this system was practiced albeit using strategies that were unique to each peoples and cultures. There was a justice system that punished deviants and a reward system that rewarded conformists. This was the era when communalism was major cornerstone of the cultural practices of our people.

While this article is about the Nigerian Police and its records of policing the nation 90 years after it became the institution responsible for ensuring social order, it is imperative that the above background is provided to contextualize the essence of this piece. Over the past nine decades, the Nigerian Police has remained one of the best talked-about security outfit and indeed, government institution, perhaps because of the statistics associated with it in regards to corruption, brutality, extra-judicial killings and a general negative image in the eyes of the majority of Nigerians. But does this presuppose that the police as an institution is all bad itself? Could it be that the negative public perception is as a result of the nefarious activities of a few of its officers? Well, that is a question to be left to the courts of public opinion.

The earliest history of the Nigerian Police Force can be traced to Lagos in 1861 when a 30-member consular guard was formed for the Lagos Colony. Eighteen years later, a 1,200-member armed paramilitary Hausa Constabulary was formed. In 1896, the Lagos Police was established. A similar force, the Niger Coast Constabulary, was formed in Calabar in 1894 under the newly proclaimed Niger Coast Protectorate. Likewise, in the north, the Royal Niger Company set up the Royal Niger Company Constabulary in 1888 with headquarters at Lokoja. When the protectorates of Northern and Southern Nigeria were proclaimed in the early 1900s, part of the Royal Niger Company Constabulary became the Northern Nigeria Police, and part of the Niger Coast Constabulary became the Southern Nigeria Police. Northern and southern Nigeria were amalgamated in 1914, but their police forces were not merged until 1930, forming the nation’s first national police, the NPF, headquartered in Lagos. During the colonial period, most police were associated with local governments (native authorities). In the 1960s, under the First Republic, these forces were first regionalized and then nationalized.

While Section 214 of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution provides for a Police Force for Nigeria, which shall be known as the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), Section 4 of the Police Acts and Regulations lists the duties of the police force to include: (1) the prevention and detection of crime (2) the apprehension of offenders (3) the preservation of law and order (4) the protection of life and property (5) the due enforcement of laws and regulations with which they are directly charged (6) the performance of such military duties within and outside Nigeria as may be required of them by or under the authority of the police act or any other act.

The primary responsibilities of a police officer are to act as an official representative of government who is required and trusted to work within the law. The officer’s powers and duties are conferred by statute. The fundamental duties of a police officer include serving the community, safeguarding lives and property, protecting the innocent, keeping the peace and ensuring the rights of all to liberty, equality and justice juxtaposing this with the vision of the NPF which is “to make Nigeria safer and more secure for economic development and growth; to create a safe and secure environment for everyone living in Nigeria,’ many Nigerians many not agree with this especially in the light of current existential realities playing in the country particularly with regards to personal safety, police brutality, harassment and unlawful detection.

For instance, despite public outcry over the impunity with which the Special Anti-Robbery Squad popularly known as SARS operates, the leadership of the NPF is yet to prosecute any officer. Furthermore, the outfit whose offices were banned in late 2019 still go about employing torture in dealing with citizens, going against the Anti-Torture Act signed into Law in 2017. Amnesty International in its report titled “Time to End Impunity” stated “at least 82 cases of torture, ill-treatment and extra-execution by SARS between January 2017 and June 2020. The victims of the police unit set up to fight violent crimes are predominantly male between 18 and 35 from low-income backgrounds and vulnerable groups”.

The perceived failure of the police to adequately safeguard the lives and properties of Nigerians has led for calls for community policing. With current talks about constitutional amendment, one of the topical issues here refers to state policing and as is seen with the recent launch of the South Western Security Network code named Operation Amotekun; other regions are also gearing up to launch theirs.

Recently, the Federal Government approved over N13.1 billion for commencing of community policing according the country in the wake of rising insecurity. Statistics show that currently, there may be more than 350,000 men and women policing a country of over 206 million people. That translates to one police officer to 589 Nigerians. How can we expect effective policing? The stress of such work coupled with the conditions of service of officers lead to a heightened aggression which is then transferred on the citizens. This is a recurring scenario with regards to public institutions and amenities.

As the Nigerian Police Force marches into its tenth decade as an institution created to assist the government in keeping its own end of the social contract, it must ask itself certain questions especially as our world has been altered by the Covid-19 pandemic.

As it approaches the final lap of its centennial celebration, certain reforms are begging to be initiated hence, it must ask; what level of professionalism is needed from its officers? How can staff welfare be improved? Should it be a proactive or a reactionary force? Will it be a willing ally to the citizens in ensuring the protection of its democracy; will it commit itself to the regular training and retraining of its officers especially in the areas of preventive conflict, peace-building and effect customer relations?

But first, it must begin by punishing offenders within its ranks, for that is the first step to win public trust and repair its battered image before Nigerians.

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