If the comments credited to Mr Solomon Arase, the newly appointed
Inspector General of Police, IGP worth its weight in gold, Nigerians
can begin to sing Hosanna. Before then, there is the need to
reappraise previous promises or grandstanding of former police
henchmen who shouted “Police Reform” and deafened themselves unto the
bargain thereafter.
The Acting Inspector General of Police, Solomon Arase, has been quoted
as saying that police road blocks breed corruption. He warned that any
police personnel caught mounting road blocks anywhere in the country
would be made to face the law.
Announcing his mission, the new police enthused: “The drive will be
clear, coordinated, massive, firm and sustained and it will target and
tackle issues relating to commercialization of bail process, the
nuisance of road blocks and abuse of police powers, particularly, in
relation to pre-trial detention.
“I wish to in clear terms, re-emphasize that police road blocks remain
banned. They are public nuisance, points of corruption, and source of
police-citizens’ frictions. “The loss of public respect and confidence
in the police as well as our inability to effectively tackle crimes in
the most ethical and professional manner have been widely attributed
to the challenge of corruption within the policing system.”
Arase went further to say that Commissioners of Police, Area
Commanders and Divisional Police Officers in whose jurisdiction
illegal road blocks are detected will be personally held liable and
strict disciplinary actions will be initiated against them. Fine talk
from a highly disciplined officer!
The Nigeria Police Force, over time have earned incredible appellation
as the most untrained, dirtiest, underfunded, brutal and reprehensible
force across the globe. They have, at the snap of the fingers
despatches lawful citizens into early grave without provocation. How
they achieve and unleash such orgy of sadism is a matter of
conjecture. I have been victimised unjustly by the police; you
probably have fallen victim to their repressive antics and, your loved
ones have.
A friend joked recently about the, NPF, as the most hated and abused
institution in Nigeria, followed by Power Holding Company of Nigeria,
PHCN. If the Nigeria Police fail to come to term with its
constitutional responsibility as designated in the provisions of
sections 353-368 of Part XV of the Police Act (cap359) and other
relevant Force Orders as well as Public Service Act. How about the
Police Mission to make Nigeria safer and more secured for economic
development and growth; create a safer and secured environment for
everyone living in Nigeria?
What is the Police Force doing about the endemic problems plaguing the
recruitment process training, inefficiency, and indiscipline, and lack
of expertise in specialized fields? How are they tackling the
widespread corruption and dishonesty that has engenders a low level
of public confidence? How about failure to report crimes, and the
tendencies to resort to self-help by the Nigerian citizens? How about
the accusations that the Police are more adept at paramilitary
operations and the exercise of force than at community service
functions or crime prevention, detection, and investigation?
If policing in Nigeria is what those who preside over its management
is what they said it is, then we will, as a people have reasons to
applaud the force for leaving up to expectation. Because we are aware
of what they are and do exactly opposite of what they claims they are,
they can’t escape the people’s outright rejection or denunciation.
After all, it’s not for nothing that the criminologist Jean-Paul
Brodeur identified two types of policing: “high policing” and “low
policing”. The former relates to the work of intelligence services at
the counter terrorism and Regional Organised Crime Unit end of the
business, while the latter refers to community policing often
conducted by uniform officers. This concept of low policing he divides
into two types: “wide” and “narrow” policing.
“Wide policing” has a variety of objectives; for example, reducing
crime, catching criminals, tackling terrorism and reassuring the
public – what perhaps we understand today as neighbourhood policing.
By contrast, the concept of “narrow policing” focuses on a more
limited set of policing objectives. An example of narrow policing is
the concept of policing held by the home secretary, Theresa May. She
said in 2011 that the “sole objective against which they [police] will
be judged as the no-nonsense crime fighters they signed up to
become… is their success in cutting crime”.
From Louis Edet as IGP, 1964–1966, Kam Salem 1966–1975, Muhammadu
Dikko Yusufu 1975–1979, Adamu Suleiman 1979 –1981, Sunday Adewusi
1981–1983, Etim Inyang 1985–1986, Muhammadu Gambo-Jimeta 1986–1990,
Aliyu Atta 1990–1993, Ibrahim Coomassie 1993–1999, Musiliu Smith
1999–2002, Mustafa Adebayo Balogun 2002–2005, Sunday Ehindero
2005–2007, Mike Mbama Okiro 2007–2009, Ogbonna Okechukwu Onovo
2009-2010, Hafiz Ringim 2010 – Jan 2012, Mohammed D Abubakar 2012 –
2014, Suleiman Abba 2014 – 2015, till now, the Nigerian Police have
remained a brutal force and still visiting gruesome terror on the
people.
Not too long ago, a middle Police officer confirm to me what I already
known about the inadequacies in the service and the transfer of
aggression that runs current in their blood. The Nigeria Police Force
still content itself with their officers parading the streets and
highway with guns without uniform in 21st Century like armed robbers!
These officers easily find their way to highway and mount road blocks
against the instructions not to as a survival strategy since salaries
are in arrears of several month.
For instance, why should Police officers who supervised the 2015
general elections ask to pay N2,000 (two thousand Naira) for a
worthless tag they used in supervising election? It is the duty of
Police to print and pay for election tags? If this is not corruption I
wonder what else it is. Mr Arase needs to also seek a way of resolving
the Nigeria Police Pension Fund in the larger interests of the force.
I am tempted to belief that the new Inspector-General, Mr Solomon
Arase may try to be his own man given his education and wealth of
experience. Until his appointment as Mr. Abba’s replacement, Mr. Arase
was the Head of the Force Criminal Intelligence and Investigation
Department. The new IGP holds Bachelors and Masters Degrees in Law, as
well as Bachelors and Masters Degrees in Political Science and
Strategic Studies. For now, we can only but wish him a successful
tenure.
Erasmus Ikhide writes in from Lagos, Nigeria,
Follow me on twitter @ErasmusIkhide
Visit: www.freepress.com.ng
