By Muiz Banire
By the law setting up the Nigeria Police Force, the officers and men are meant to primarily maintain law and order in the country. Specifically, they are to provide security and protection for the civilian population. At a point in history, they discharged this responsibility so well that the country was substantially safe for all and Nigerians were proud of their police force. In fact, on the international plain, they earned accolades and laurels from time to time in peacekeeping operations and other assignments.
Consequently, appropriation to the Nigeria Police Force started dwindling and funds for weapons, recruitment and capacity-building, among others, became a challenge. In no time, the Nigeria Police Force had become a shadow of itself, losing respect with the populace in all ramifications. Apart from the Nigerian police’s inability to secure the citizens, the force became corrupt to the extent of becoming a menace to the society that it was meant to secure.
This recently culminated into
the #EndSARS protests across the country. While the country survived that, it
may not be fortunate if another of such protests is triggered. It was at this
juncture that it became so apparent that nothing good could come of the
institution and alternatives must be urgently sought as the country was
descending into chaos and a jungle. All manner of crimes became a daily
occurrence, hell was let loose on the citizens as armed robbery became
prevalent, aided and abetted in many cases by members of the police force.
Kidnapping
became a lifestyle; in not too long a distance, terrorism, banditry, obtaining
by false pretense, popularly known as ‘yahoo yahoo’ set in. In fact, law and
order became inverted in the country. Citizens hardly embrace the law anymore
and it was becoming the survival of the fittest. Notwithstanding the scarcity
of the men of the Nigeria Police Force as its population was a far cry from the
desired number, the few available ones became largely a product of rentals for
the privileged class, particularly politicians and other public office holders.
The masses suddenly became
orphans in terms of their security and had to resort to all manner of vigils
and spiritualism, including diabolism. It was at the peak of this, and rather
than resurrecting the force, that ad hoc structures started surfacing in
various parts of the country. They range from a cocktail of security agents,
with the major component being men of the military agencies, to various
vigilance groups and private security outfits.
That was and still is the era
of security outfits tagged various forms of acronyms, Operation Sweep;
Operation Wedge, Operation Safe Haven, Rapid Response Squad,’ etc. Till date,
this is now a permanent feature of our security apparatus. In recent times,
there has been a struggle to regenerate the Nigeria Police Force but still to
no appreciable extent. It is in the midst of this confusion that the Nigeria
Police Force became a predator on the citizens.
Extrajudicial killings,
compromise of the security of the citizens through rental of the few available
weapons to criminals, harassment of the citizens, especially the youth,
extortion of the citizens and so many other vices became the order of the day.
The immediate question is, apart from the reasons alluded to above, what
factors are responsible for this ugly development?
This is the plank of our
engagement in this discourse.
The convenient point to commence is the recruitment process. How are the men recruited? Gone were the days when the best was usually recruited into the police, not only in terms of intelligence but impeccable pedigree and character. This certainly is no more as we continue to witness continuous wranglings over the recruitment process, particularly the organization or institution responsible for the recruitment.
I am sure that the struggle
between the Police Service Commission and the Nigeria Police Force over the
recruitment of new men is still fresh in our memory. It is still an extant
issue that has even been elevated into the judicial corridor, with the dispute currently
submitted to the apex court for determination as to who is responsible for
recruitment of men into the police. If merely on the point of whose
responsibility it is to handle recruitment into the force there is such
confusion, imagine what anarchy will be reigning in the actual recruitment
exercise.
Just in
the same manner that we have destroyed the Nigerian football teams and other
sports and the country as a whole, we are destroying the police force through
the retrogressive federal character and quota system policies. The country, as
typified by the police recruitment agency, has relegated merit ad competence to
the background. Who you are and where you come from, as if you determined that,
now accounts for employment opportunity and growth in the country.
While not de-emphasizing the
need for integration of the various peoples of the country, it is my view that
competence must never be sacrificed for the attainment of this objective. Where
even lies the spirit of nationalism and patriotism when Nigerians of different
origins are freely discriminated against? Anyway, this is a subject for another
engagement. Suffice, however, to state that the criteria adopted for
recruitment of policemen in contemporary times do not support the emergence of
the best crop of policemen. Federal character births no good and there is no
data to profile any new recruit anyway.
We have heard of instances of
criminals finding their way into the police force. This flaw is the foundation
of the challenge the police and, by extension, the society are confronting
today. Capacity-building is another factor militating against the emergence of
a responsible and responsive police force. I am not too sure that the police
have the required fund to train and develop the capacity of their men; and even
the negligible fund available, suspiciously it is not well deployed for the
best of training. Thank God for the grace of international training assistance,
without which the Nigerian police could have probably been totally comatose.
Weapons
handling, discretion exercise, rules of engagement, behavioral conduct, public
engagement, response mechanism, combat methodology, etcetera are still largely
elusive to them. It is a notorious fact that cases of “accidental discharge”
also abound due to mishandling of weapons. This is part of poor training.
Frustration is another factor that must be addressed. There is no gainsaying
the fact that the welfare of the officers and men is still nothing to be proud
of. They still substantially wallow in poverty. Even most of their barracks are
reflective of a zoo and you certainly do not expect any behaviour other than
animalistic ones from them. Nigerian policemen can hardly sustain their
families without compromise, and most times they are unable to access quality
health.
This
brings me to the event that triggered this discourse, the gruesome murder of
Bolanle Raheem, a lawyer. May her soul rest in peace, while God grants the
family the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss.
Let me
state unequivocally that several lives of Nigerians are lost daily in similar
circumstances but with no corresponding outcry as they were ‘inconsequential’.
Those lives came from the
voiceless constituencies and silently had to bear their losses. While
commiserating with families of all those victims, I believe that this is an
opportunity for me to interrogate some of the issues abetting this fatal
misconduct, beyond the basic factors that I mentioned earlier. It is not enough
that we all shout at the top of our voices that justice must be done, which
certainly will not bring back the dead.
I believe it is commonsensical to do an
excursion into the factors precipitating the murders and addressing them in a
manner that recurrence will be minimized, if not eliminated. In this regard, mental
illness is a major contributory factor. Now the question is, do we, at the
entry level, evaluate these entrants in terms of their mental health? I doubt
very much.
Now, assuming, without
conceding that we evaluate them at that point, is it not the proper thing for a
person handling weapon to at least be evaluated periodically every three years
in terms of mental stability? Certainly, this is not obtainable. Again, the
excuse will be lack of fund. The system then entrusts ammunition to the hands
of such persons, who might, for all you know, be mentally deranged and not
expect the worse as in the killing of innocent Nigerians.
Then, it is certain that we
must be a clowning lot. Therefore, in arresting this dangerous trend, if not
already a pattern, we must not only institutionalize the mental evaluation of
recruits into the police force, there must be periodic routine evaluation of
the officers and men, at least every three years. The other side is the effect
of drugs, alcohol and other intoxicants on the conducts of these men. There is
no doubt that these equally impairs their capacities to professionally handle
arms. Most
times on the roads and streets of the country, you stumble on drunk or
intoxicated policemen in custody of arms. Who
checks them?
Nobody!
That explains why the policemen cannot equally control drunk drivers on our
roads. I suspect
it is part of the
codes of the police force not to be drunk while on duty. This rule is however
redundant as nobody or authority upholds it. Should it not be part of the
training that an average police officer should not consume alcohol for whatever
purpose and not merely when on duty?
I remember discussing this issue with my
friend and brother, Dr Solomon Arase when he was the Inspector General of
Police, the advice which he took that there must be random test of policemen on
the streets for alcohol and other intoxicant intake. The
initiative commenced towards the tail end of his tenure and vanished
immediately thereafter. The Inspector General of Police must resurrect this
and, at the barest minimum, act through his X Squad Department which exists in
all the States in Nigeria.
There
must be a control mechanism in place to check these drunk excesses/intoxication
of policemen bearing arms. This is another source of accidental discharges,
culminating in the recurring extra-judicial killings by the policemen. In the
case of the officer responsible for the death of Bolanle Raheem, it is not
sufficient from the investigation to unveil her killing and mete out appropriate
punishment, but most important to uncover the trigger of his action. This will
help in taming such incident in the nearest future. This is my take on the
issue and may God continue to protect Nigerians as we enter the new year.
Compliments of the season!
*Banire is a commentator on public issues
No comments:
Post a Comment