Nigerians, the police vs criminals

Penultimate weekend was quite traumatic for the people living close to the Jimeta Shopping complex in the heart of Jimeta Yola, Adamawa state when they were woken up by the sound of sporadic gun shots in the early morning of Sunday at exactly 2:00 am. Even in broad day light, criminals are daring the police when sometime ago within the same axis, some Shila boys at about 8:00 am barricaded the Bishop Street, stopping and snatching cell phones of motorists, who were out early on that day.

Sources said that the gun shots were fired by the policemen providing security to a branch of First Bank, when some armed robbers broke into a cell phones shop that was opened recently just by the Mubi flyover.

Nigerians are grappling with the lack of security because the 1:650 police to citizen ratio is lower than the UN-recommended ratio of 1:450. This greatly aids the criminals to do whatever they like especially in the odd hours of the night without being arrested by the police.

The need to reassign police officers currently providing security to high-profile individuals and strengthen security for the general public has been emphasised. Presently, the total strength of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) stands at 370,000 officers which is grossly inadequate to provide the much needed security to the people in the country.

This results in police officers aiding and abetting criminal suspects and intimidating the innocent citizens. There is also the need for prioritisation of the security needs of the general public over those of the high-profile individuals like rich individuals, political office holders, etc. it is only in Nigeria that simply because one is a political office holder, he/she will be provided with a large cache of police officers providing cover for him or her.

Even celebrities in the country enjoy the provision of police security cover.

The Nigeria Police was first established in 1820. A 1200-member armed paramilitary Hausa constabulary was set up. A similar force was formed in Calabar in 1894 and named” The Niger Coast Constabulary”. It was formed under the newly proclaimed Niger Coast Protectorate. In the North, the Royal Niger Company set up the Royal Niger Company Constabulary in 1888 with headquarters in Lokoja and the Lagos Police, which was established in 1896.

When in the early 1900s, the Northern and Southern Protectorates were declared, the Northern Nigeria police was formed from a portion of the constabulary of the Royal Niger Company. The portion of the constabulary of Niger Coast formed the Southern Nigeria Police in 1914. The different police forces were merged for administrative convenience.

Sections 214 – 216 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) provide for the Nigeria police. Section 214 categorically states, “There shall be a police force for Nigeria, which shall be known as the Nigeria Police Force, and subject to the provisions of the section, no other police force shall be established for the federation or any part thereof”.

The functions of the Nigeria Police Force is for prevention and detection of crime, apprehension of offenders, preservation of law and order, protection of life and property and enforcement of all laws and regulations. But the reverse seems to be the case today in Nigeria as criminals are having a field day perpetrating their dastard crimes with impunity because of the below average performance of the police force in curbing as well as arresting the criminals.

The police force is sliding in the provision of security to the citizenry because they are only providing security to select few in the society and these are the political leaders, the rich and the celebrities who can afford to pay. In a nutshell, the police force has been commercialised to the highest bidder, who can pay for their services to the detriment of the vast majority of the people of Nigeria.

The responsibility of providing security to all Nigerians not a select few lies with the Nigeria Police. They should ensure they discharge their duties and provide security to the good people of Nigeria.

They should not shy away in adopting the international best practice in the provision of security for the people not only the political office holders and the rich in the country.

The leadership of the police needs to be proactive in providing security to the people and the protection the life and property of the people of Nigeria.