A routine tragedy passed with little fuss on Monday 28^th July 2008 on the part of a nation numbed with tragedies. The Tribune newspaper reported the killing of a commercial driver who failed to give to policemen at a check point the required twenty naira settlement fee. This hapless driver fell down while being pursued by men of the police force, hit his chin on the ground, apparently sustaining head injuries that led to his untimely death. This was an incident that elicited only a cursory mention in a nation battling with so many vices, political rebellion and socio-economic handicaps. To so many Nigerians, police-induced death is a regular phenomenon. In fact, it is becoming an acceptable norm that the Nigerian Police must routinely kill citizens. That the Nigeria Police Force is a harbinger of sorrow, agony and untimely death to its citizens is a stale fact. This view of the Nigerian Police is not confined to our borders alone. In the year 2000, the United States Department of State in its Nigeria: Country Reports on Human Rights Practices confirmed that the Nigerian Police, along with the army and other security forces, commit extra-judicial killings and use excessive force to quell civil unrest even under the democratic (Obasanjo’s) government.

History is replete with the contradiction that the Nigeria Police Force has turned to. Tales abound amongst numerous families of woes, anguish and sorrows, directly induced by men and women of that organisation that has become synonymous with murder, violence, brutality and state repression of its citizens. On 7 February 2001, a plain clothes policeman, Corporal Rabiu Bello attached to Kaduna State Criminal Investigation Department (CID) requested a young apprentice, Haliru Slau Agaba to buy a stick of cigarette for him. Haliru responded that he could not afford it. Corporal Bello "pulled out a pistol and pumped bullets into the young apprentice, who slumped" (The News, Lagos, 30.04.01). Another incident in February 2001 involved three policemen from the Central Kogi State Police Command. The threesome; Benhamin Oyakhire, Jimo Michael and Gershon Soba mounted an illegal road block, robbed some traders (an equivalent) of 100,000 US dollars, and set two of the traders ablaze in a brazen attempt to cover their tracks (PANA Press, 03.04.01). The P.M news reported in March of 2001 that a Lagos woman, Mrs. Iroh, while roasting plantain (a local delicacy of the poor) by the roadside was killed by the bullets from the gun of a policeman. The police merely described the incident as an accidental discharge, and nothing whatsoever was done to contact the family of Mrs. Iroh. No apology was rendered and no compensation was contemplated.

The list is endless. Unfortunately, the recurring brutality is not abating. Teeth are being gnashed and promising souls continually lost. Dele Udoh, a very promising Nigerian athlete was brutally gunned down by the police in Lagos in 1999. A very prominent Nigerian Fuji artist (Adewale Ayuba) was shot in the leg by policemen for refusing to give a “reasonable settlement”. On a personal note, a friend came home on a visit from the UK sometimes in January this year. His wife was against this visit but he felt that he needed to see his aged mum and other relations. I remember him telling us that he really missed Nigeria. No one knew that he had an appointment with death in Nigeria. While on this ill-fated visit, he had a cause to take his car for washing. On coming back, one thing led to the other and he was shot dead by policemen at a road block. The most painful part was that the policemen claimed to have killed an armed robber and displayed his body with foreign currency. This incident happened at Lagos. This incident remained a first hand experience of how police action can shatter the harmony of a beautiful family. Policemen perpetuate brutality and also sponsor violence. Many policemen have been implicated in armed robberies. They have equally supplied weapons to armed robbers. Notorious robbers have found comfort and solace in the arms of police officers. The dignity of this pathetic force has been so battered by elements within it that one wonders why it still exists in the first instance.

It has been a fairly long journey for the present day Nigerian Police Force. Prof Etanbi et al of CLEEN Foundation, Lagos in their Analysis of Police and Policing in Nigeria, maintained that policing has always been necessary in all societies for the preservation of order, safety and social relations. Thus the primary role of the police remains that of securing compliance with existing laws and conformity with precepts of social order. Bitner (1970) maintained that police work involves a variety of tasks and responsibilities. Officers are expected to prevent crime, protect life and property, enforce the laws, maintain peace and public order and provide a wide range of services to citizens. Robert Reiner (The Politics of the Police, Oxford University Press) stresses this point further by stating that the police are the specialist carriers of the state bedrock power: the monopoly of the legitimate use of force. Thus the dangers of abuse on partisan interests or on the part of the police themselves are clear and daunting, if not very frightening!

The Nigeria Police Force was created in 1930 but co-existed with local administration police forces between 1930 and 1966. The local forces served the regional powers in both the North and Western parts of Nigeria. These local forces were eventually abolished because they were perceived as being poorly trained, corrupt and misused for partisan political ends, including brutalisation of opponents. Ostensibly, the newly formed Nigeria Police Force was meant to be a reformed unification of local regional forces with the bad ingredients whittled away. Journey over the decades has shown that this altruistic aim is far from being attained. Though larger and supposedly modern, the Nigeria Police Force is still arcane, largely uneducated, still poorly trained, extremely corrupt and still serves parochial ends politically.

The egregious brutality and hostility of the police force in Nigeria brings into question the need for survival tactics in a no man’s jungle called Nigeria. The populace have no known defence against police brutality. Police kill innocent citizens and put tags of armed robbers to cover themselves. Innocent Nigerians have paid the price for crimes they never committed. The Nigerian judiciary to date has not been a reliable defender of the people. So, how does one survive police brutality? Is it to run, duck or jump? To date, no method has been proven effective in Nigeria. It even got so bad that the police force in rejecting one of their own demonstrated its primordial brutality and dangerous lack of discipline and proper orientation. I am referring to the treatment meted out to former Inspector General Tafa Balogun. The most pertinent question remains; where then shall we run to? What then shall we do to escape the brutality of a sovereign force behaving like an occupying force? What could be done to transform the Nigeria Police Force?

Towards the Police Force of our dreams

Opinions are bound to be diverse on the modus operandi of transforming our current liability called Nigeria Police Force. What is not in question is that fact that the force needs urgent restructuring to become a healthy force and not the current farce it is. Possible suggestions include:

· Removal/Limitation of overt and covert political control. This is to free the force from political tinkering, interferences and abuse. The aim is to form a truly independent force capable of challenging the excesses of government, if necessary. The United Kingdom is an example of a country with a fairly independent police force. Not too long ago, the Metropolitan Police had the daunting task of probing political donations to the ruling Labour party. The then Prime Minister, Tony Blair, faced rounds of questioning by the police. Presently, this is an impossible scenario in Nigeria.

· Massive and deliberate policy of recruiting educated Nigerians to the force. It is perhaps relevant at this point to state that level of education amongst members of the force has improved admirably over the years. However, the increased education has not translated the force to a courteous and humane one.

· Need for Continued Professional Development in the form of compulsory and regular in-service trainings, conferences, workshops and so on. Herein perhaps is the crux of the solution to our moribund police force. It is just not enough to give initial training and abandon policemen to the field. If further trainings have been part of the system, then these should be reviewed because it is apparent they are not working. Keeping individual log books or folders of further trainings may be made mandatory for promotional purposes.

· Requirement for Feedbacks. This could be another essential for progress and promotion within the force. Feedbacks would be not only from superiors, but also junior colleagues, contemporaries and even civilian members of the force. The goal should be a form of 360 degree feedbacks.

· Provision of modern and sophisticated equipment to create a truly mobile and ready force. Not one that crumbles at the superior fire power of armed robbers.

· Enhanced remuneration for members. This, perhaps, may minimise the legendary avarice of members of the force.

Time and resources spent on transforming the police are justified and appropriate, as the society is better off for it. Socio-political restructuring and transformation of Nigeria will not happen overnight. It is a gradual process requiring painstaking efforts and covering virtually all facets of our existence. The Nigeria Police Force can truly be a genuine, reliable, mobile and indeed the people’s force. All it takes is will, sincerity and commitment on the part of our political leaders. Is anyone listening?

Robot  # 1 | 01.08.2008 12:56

A routine tragedy passed with little fuss on Monday 28th July 2008 on the part of a n...Read the full article.

bobokite  # 2 | 01.08.2008 13:34

Police??? They no get remedy abeg…. No need discussing them

Olamide  # 3 | 01.08.2008 16:36

There must be something about and with Nigeria that turns people into animals. In my own opinion, it is the grinding poverty and the wanton display of ill-gotten wealth by the political class, emergency contractors, scammers and jobbers that is fuelling the frustration of the police officers. I agree with all your recommendations but need to mention that the length of time being used to train our police officers is too short. for a job that an individual will spend the next 25 years or so of his life doing, training him for 4 months is ridiculous. The education of the officer cadre has improved tremendously but for the rank and file, it is still the same semi-literate, village boys who believe that once you are relatively well dressed, you are a 'suspect'. I was stopped by a Corporal who said he will slap me because I called him a corporal instead of 'Oga' and I told him that if I had joined the police 20 years ago with my education, I would still have been his senior, come what may. I was almost shot for this. The officers who are educated are also very lawless. Most senior police officers are lawyers but engage in unconstitutional acts like parading a suspect for a crime that he has not been convicted of by a court of competent jusrisdiction, ordering and participating in extra-judicial killings, collecting bribes and engaging in torture to extract confessions. By the time you pass through the hands of some of the Investigating Officers at the Police Stations across Nigeria, you will be ready to confess to being an 'accomplice' of Late Oyenusi and Anini combined. Most of our police officers are accidents waiting to happen. The rates for alcohol and hard drugs abuse are higher than average. I always like to claim my rights but once I discover that the police officer is drunk, I become very humble and try not to provoke them even though I may take other actions later like reporting them to superior officers for disciplinary measures to be taken against them. Most Police officers are also poorly trained and are not motivated. Please visit any police barracks and you will understand why they behave that way. Most live in appalling conditions. The houses they live in will melt even a heart of stone and make you shed tears. Their children are in rags. The welfare is horrible regardless of what the senior police officers are parroting for the newspapers. I have had the good fortune of observing our police officers working outside the country and they make me proud. I have interacted with them in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Sudan and if I was not a Nigerian, I would not have believed that it was the same widely reviled Nigerian Police officers that were being praised by all for their professionalism and dedication to duty. No single Nigerian police officer has ever had a case of 'accidental discharge' or of collecting 'family support' from civilians and helpless motorists. They have never been accused of brutality and they never come to work smelling of 'paraga' which will also surprise many Nigerians. They are ready to assist, courteous and go out of their way to be nice to everyone. I am sure it will sound like a fairy tale to most Nigerians that Senior officers like DSPs, SPs and CSPs will see a fellow Nigerian in the morning and say 'good morning sir' to you when you are not a Senator. It happens routinely when they are out of the country. The Police officers and the rank and file only behave like tin gods when they are in Nigeria. The secret is very simple; police officers serving with the United Nations for example, are paid on average, $4,000 USD per month as their remuneration. that is almost half a million naira per month! I am sure the thought of losing such an opportunity to earn that amount legally and working honestly is what keeps the police officers from misbehaving. If they are better paid and the semi-literate, drug addicted, criminally-minded ones are flushed out, there is still hope for the police. It will take concerted efforts by the government to change the police to a force we can be proud of within Nigeria but I am sure it could be done if square pegs are put in square holes.

AISAGBON OMOGIADE  # 4 | 01.08.2008 18:44

Nigeria Police Force is a reflection of the country's larger society.The Force will change for good when the society does same.We dont need to apply to God for this.

YUAN  # 5 | 02.08.2008 04:55

High level of education has not yet translated into efficiency in the Nigerian police force as I remember watching a News line Programme on NTA anchored by Frank Olize sometimes around 1998. This famous TV progamme on that day was about the spate of armed robbery between Lagos- Ibadan expressway and a man narrated his experience as follows. According to him. He was travelling from Ibadan to Lagos and about 3 kilometers away from ogere toll gate some armed robbers attacked his vehicle by throwing car rims on the road for him with the intention of damaging his vehicle first with the hope that he would park his car so that they could attack/rob him. The man said that his car was badly damaged but his driver refused to stop as he managed the vehicle down to the toll gate. On getting to the toll gate he saw some policemen and he quickly approached the most senior in rank among them with the badge of ASP (Definitely a University Graduate) and told him about his experience few minutes ago with the armed robbers and that the robbers could still be at the location. The police officer responded that the armed robbers were doing their job and he even demanded 500 naira bribe from the sad man before he could use a towing vehicle to tow is damaged car from the toll gate that day rather than chasing the armed robbers. The man said when he got back home later that he told his wife that he had a bad experience with two set of armed robbers. One set in Uniform and the other not in uniform. Secondly, Enhancement of salary for police may not necessarily prevent extortion or lead to efficiency. I argued elsewhere, that if economic reason is the necessary prerequisite for high level of corruption in any police organization, the poorest country in the world should have the most corrupt/inefficient police organization. Nigerian police members are not the poorly paid police in the world so why are they among the most corrupt? So we need to look inward at other factors such as. Motivation (this may not necessarily be in monetary terms) Training and continuous training of personnel while on service. Proper re-orientation through lectures because the present police force is anti-people. The Nigeria police need a leader who is ready to lead by example.

10Kobo  # 6 | 07.08.2008 22:20

=AISAGBON OMOGIADE;4295078382>Nigeria Police Force is a reflection of the country's larger society.The Force will change for good when the society does same.We dont need to apply to God for this. And the country can not change for good, if the Police, (like judges), being the watchdog, conscience and compass of the country, does not, first, change for the better. Not the Cart first, but the Horse! Now, if l believe you, we are locked in a vicious cycle :confused1 10Kobo

Miliki Way  # 7 | 07.08.2008 23:12

You take the dregs of the society, the riff raffs and the primary and secondary school dropouts. You send them to a dead beat police college for something that has no resemblance to training. Upon graduation, you pay them anywhere from N7000 to N30,000 per month with no functional life insurance or health care. Then you give them guns and usher them into the hot and humid streets to go and 'protect and serve'. WHAT DO YOU EXPECT THEM TO DO??? You treat them like animals, thats exactly how they'll behave. Honestly, I think its only the grace of God that the Nigerian policemen and women have not gone bananas and start killing every citizen on sight.

FoxCatcher  # 8 | 08.08.2008 11:54

=Miliki Way;4295080805>You take the dregs of the society, the riff raffs and the primary and secondary school dropouts. You send them to a dead beat police college for something that has no resemblance to training. Upon graduation, you pay them anywhere from N7000 to N30,000 per month with no functional life insurance or health care. Then you give them guns and usher them into the hot and humid streets to go and 'protect and serve'. WHAT DO YOU EXPECT THEM TO DO??? You treat them like animals, thats exactly how they'll behave. Honestly, I think its only the grace of God that the Nigerian policemen and women have not gone bananas and start killing every citizen on sight. To get into that Police College, they have to bribe up to their nose. The conditions under which they are quartered are animalistic to say the least. The Police barracks creates a 'barrack mentality' of 'us' against 'them' 'bloody civilians'. They're part of the 9ja tragedy; the 9ja comedy; the 9ja soap opera. Our Police recruits for the most part do not join to serve, but to plunder. They seek a legal license to rob, maim or kill. Interact with many of them and you'll understand their psyche. God help you if you fall into their hands. With a few notable exceptions, they have little or no conscience. They can arrest a young man for nothing but the hope of extracting 'bail money' and where its not forthcoming, consign him to the gulag on trumped up charges of 'armed robbery'. That's if he's not a victim of extra judicial killings. Our Police officers see 'white' and for the right price call it 'black'. They can be downright cruel and heartless without compunction. This applies to even their senior officers. In an earlier article I narrated my experience with members of the Police heirachy (one of whom later rose to the apex of the Force ). Like Olamide said, perhaps its the poverty (????), that makes them so animalistic. Whatever it is, it'll take a moral revolution to change.