Within the past week, the news reported the ambush and killing of five policemen, in Kogi State, North Central of Nigeria.
Sadly, this is not an isolated case of police victimisation and annihilation. Almost daily, we hear of police being killed across the country. If the killing is not by bandits, it is by armed robbers and criminals. This portends grave danger for the security architecture of Nigeria, and, by extension, the masses of the country whose lives and property the police are meant to protect. If steps, urgent and stringent, are not taken to stop this trend, we may soon arrive at a stage in our national lives, where the average Nigerian no longer believes in the ability of the state to protect his life, let alone, his property.
What Should Be Done?
Every effective police force, world over, thrives, first and foremost, on awareness through the availability of information. Criminals are not ghosts, neither are they invisible. They are an integral part of the society and largely rely on same for their daily living. Citizens, then, would be doing themselves a whole lot of good service by promptly reporting acrimonious activities within the community. This way, the police is enamoured to swiftly swing into action to nip criminal activities in the bud and curb the perpetration of same. To this end, the government should engage in intensive sensitisation to educate the citizens that, availing vital and timely information to the police, is not just helping the police but, by extension, equipping the police to ensure the safety of the same citizens.
Instances of withholding information, out of fear, inflicts more damage. The criminals are left to fester and become emboldened to inflict more damage. States like Zamfara, Sokoto and even Kogi witness a high preponderance of criminal activities because the citizens and residents fail to avail the security forces, especially the police, with adequate information with which these security forces can combat the criminals.
Let it be stated, without any doubts, that the police should not be a national exclusive but rather the prerogative of the subnational. Police forces would be more effective when control is vested in states and local authorities. This is so much so because the states and the local authorities have their security peculiarities and thus the control of such apparatus will ensure that policies and actions are geared towards confronting peculiar challenges.
Also, policing is local. However, when, as a result of the national control, officials of, maybe South-western origin, are deployed to the core North, he is disadvantaged, even from scratch. He may not speak the local languages as would avail him an indepth knowledge of activities around him, in the course of duty.
Also, he may not know the terrain the same way someone native to the environment would. Without being petty, he may not possess the same level of dedication as against when the environment is such as he could call his. In the same vein, the locals may not have the same level of uninhibited confidence as they may have if the law enforcer could be called theirs. This factor is of high limitation to the effectiveness of the police. Would you expose your criminal kin and kith to a supposed stranger who is a law enforcer? This is most unlikely.
Also, when control of the police is subnational, efforts can be intensified, in collaboration with the private sector, to jointly combat crime by empowering the police, equipping them for effective crime combat.
Lagos State, as an example, has the Security Trust Fund, created to ensure a vibrant and efficient Police service. This is a collaboration between the public and the private sectors and it led to the constitution of the Rapid Response Squad, a combined effort of the police, the military and other forces equipped for rapid response to the security needs of the state. This has, relatively, reduced the spate of crimes, especially armed robbery, in Lagos. It is, however sad that what is Lagos’ gain is the loss of neighbouring states who do not have such arrangements. The criminals have migrated to these neighbouring states to escape the heat in Lagos. This would not be possible if the adjoining states also have effective crime combat mechanisms.
The emoluments of the police officers should be improved on to make it more attractive. Their salaries, pensions, logistics and the overall conditions of service should be overhauled. The profession should be made profitable as this would boost the morale of the officers and make complicity to crime for the sake of material gain very low, almost non-existent.
I say almost non-existent because no sector of national life is completely devoid of bad eggs. However, when bad eggs in the police are at the barest minimum, such would not overshadow the many good deeds of the police. As such, cases like accidental discharge, extortion and even extra judicial killings which have come to plague the public perception of the police would be reduced to the barest minimum.
Also, for a more effective Police Force, more personnel should be engaged to meet the internationally specified ratio of police per citizens. Such personnel should be exposed to very standard training programmes that will equip them, not only in the combat of crime but also, in the maintenance of law and order, in conformity to international standards.
With adequate training, adequate armaments should be made available to the police. A well-trained personnel is rendered useless and ineffective when equipped with substandard firearms especially when criminals he is expected to subdue enjoy superior firearms. The era of equating crime combat to suicide missions should come to an end.
Very importantly, the reward system of the Nigeria Police should be activated to be proactive. Misdemeanours should be outrightly and appropriately sanctioned. There should be zero tolerance to acts of compromise to crime. In the same vein, diligence and honesty, in the face of temptations. Just as dismissal can be a sanction for inappropriate conduct, promotion and monetary rewards are, definitely, not out of place for exemplary conduct. A very high sense of responsibility can be engendered through this.
On the whole, because the taste of the pudding is in the eating, the public should be sensitised on the police body renewal. That the police is their friend should be impressed on them. That the success of the police in combating crime can only be achieved with the cooperation of the citizens, through collaborative efforts. Fora should be convened for interactive discussions, the media should be engaged, too.
And, with the above, the Nigeria Police can truly be transformed.
