Nigeria, with a population of about 170 million has just 314,000 policemen on the beat across the nation, while Ghana with a population of about 25 million is reported to have over one million policemen. The growing security challenges facing the country and the agitation for state police is part of the reason why some analysts have suggested that Nigeria is grossly under-policed. Acting Head of Investigations, Yemi Olakitan, examines the issues.
It was the Chairman, Senate Committee on Police Affairs, Senator Paulinus Nwagwu Igwe of Ebonyi State that stated the obvious recently when, he pointed out that the nation is grossly under-policed and the force is not properly equipped to properly carry out its functions.
Speaking against the backdrop of cross border crimes and the raging insurgency on the North, Igwe said: “The truth is that our borders are very porous. We have thousands of border areas that are not adequately manned or policed. This is why the insurgents can take over several local council areas and mount flags,” he said.
Speaking further he said, “We have only 314,000 policemen in Nigeria and it is like a ratio of one to 200. Our fellow West African country Ghana, with a far less population has over one million policemen for the population. It makes intelligence gathering look like a child’s play. We are pleading with government to allow for more recruitment because the numbers are just not adequate. We have to be proactive. So we are pleading on the executives for a waiver on recruitment, we are still lagging behind in World Policing Index when put into consideration that Before now we had seen a lot of obsolete acts that have hindered the development of the Police Force. We want to make sure that the Police are friendly, civilized with improved living standards in order to make it acceptable. It is the largest organization in the country. But the Act governing it is obsolete. We still rely on the colonial laws, which are no longer relevant and make us look as if we are not moving forward,” he stated.
These comments point to the very nature of policing in Nigeria and its myriad problems confronting the Force such as underfunding, corruption and unprofessional conduct. The security situation in the country and other issues confronting the Nigerian police has also made eminent Nigerians to call for a state policing system for more efficient service delivery.
Social critic and veteran journalist Chief Bayode Ogunmupe, confirming the senator’s submissions, said, “An analysis by the United Nations in 2010 recommends an approximate median of 300 police officers per 100,000 inhabitants. Put in another way, this is approximately 100 policemen to 30,000 inhabitants of any country. Nigeria’s 314,000 police men to a population of about 170 million people have gone far below that recommendation; little wonder Nigeria has heavy casualties in the fight against terror.”
A look into the huge disparity in the number of policemen in Nigeria and the population clearly shows that Nigeria’s policing problems are more than corruption and indiscipline as claimed in many circles.
Ogunmupe, who said he wrote a letter to President Goodluck Jonathan on the matter which has not yielded desired results, hopes the situation will change this year. “I once wrote a letter to the president, I received a reply, but my recommendations have not been implemented. The situation is alarming when you look at the huge population of unemployed graduates, with such a shortage in policing; all we need to do is to recruit these young Nigerians and give them the necessary training. This will serve as a double edged sword in solving the nation’s problems. It will help in reducing our high unemployment rate and improve the Nigerian Police Force,” he said. When asked for his take on the agitation for state creation as a solution, he said, ‘Nigeria is a federation. I personally believe that the Federal Government is too powerful. Security is too important to be left in the hands of the Federal Government alone. If we must get it right, we need federal, state and local government policing. This is the only way to curb the insecurity that plagued us,” he said.
He also pointed out that the country also needs forest guards, as the absence of forest guards, and inadequate border patrol corps has created a safe haven for terrorists and criminals in Nigeria. “We have large uncultivated forest in Nigeria and we don’t know what is going on in there. An example is the Boko Haram insurgents hiding in Sambisa forests and that is just the one we know, what about others, we don’t know?”, he noted.
The high level insecurity and crime rate had led to the agitation for state police. It was the former Governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu that first made the call for state police when he was in power. According to him, the population of Lagos State and the increasing crime rate in his state made it necessary. He was convinced that state policing will help improve security in his state.
In 2014, there was a report of an evil forest, discovered by the Nigerian police in Ibadan, Oyo state. Hundreds of people were killed by kidnappers and many decomposed bodies of dead victims were found in a forest. In the said forest, there was a building called the Soka house of horror, a den of killers who created a syndicate where innocents Nigerians were systematically murdered, some were kept as prisoners, starved until death or slaughtered for rituals. In the isolated bush, life was said to be hellish with a barbaric and fetish criminal activity thriving unabated”
Analysts said, this evil forest had been in existence many years before it was discovered it had been argued that, it is the absence of state and community policing that have contributed to the success of such criminality in Nigeria.
According to Ezekiel Keith, a social commentator, “if we have enough police systems that could have been prevented.”
‘‘Judging from our population and the number of officers in the Nigeria Police Force, it is apparent that we are under-policed and I support the agitation for state policing because the present system is not working. The state police if created will add to the number of police and they will work together to solve the security problems facing the nation. Some are afraid that state police will nullify federal policing. No, it will only complement it. All hands should be on deck. People are afraid that governors will use the state police to harass opponents. This is why we should remove their immunity and ensure that governors are not above the law. They can be prosecuted by the Attorney General of the state or that of the Federation, who should not be appointed by them or controlled by them. Nigeria should learn from developed countries,” he said.
According to the Nigerian constitution, the Nigeria Police Force, NPF, is the most important law enforcement agency in the country and the present system allows the Force to be controlled and funded by the Federal Government.
The Inspector General of Police heads the Nigerian police. Historically, the Nigerian police began with a 30-member consular guard formed in Lagos Colony in 1861. In 1879, a 1,200-member armed paramilitary Hausa Constabulary was formed and in 1896, the Lagos Police was established. A similar force, the Niger Coast Constabulary, was formed in Calabar in 1894 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 at Lokoja. Thereafter, the protectorates of Northern and Southern Nigeria were proclaimed in the early 1900s, part of the Royal Niger Company Constabulary became the Northern Nigeria Police, and part of the Niger Coast Constabulary became the Southern Nigeria Police. Northern and Southern Nigeria were amalgamated in 1914, but their police forces were not merged until 1930, forming the NPF that was headquartered in Lagos.
During the colonial period, most police were associated with local governments. In the 1960s, under the First Republic, these forces were first regionalized and then nationalized. The NPF performed conventional police functions and was responsible for internal security generally, supporting the prisons, immigration, and customs services and performing military duties within or outside Nigeria as directed. Plans were announced in mid-1980 to expand the force to 200,000. By 1983, according to the federal budget, the strength of the NPF was almost 152,000, but other sources estimated it to be between 20,000 and 80,000. Reportedly, there were more than 1,300 police stations nationwide.
Investigations by Sunday Mirror reveals that the United States, in addition to federal and state police forces, has around 75 federal law enforcement agencies such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI, who deal with interstate crime. The FBI has some 20,000 plain clothes agents who usually concern themselves with major offences such as murder, kidnapping and robbery. It publishes a list of the ‘ten most wanted fugitives’ and provides state and local police forces with relevant information.
According to reports, the FBI has had its role expanded to include ‘homeland security’ and there’s talk of merging or at least co-coordinating the activities of the FBI with those of the Central Intelligence Agency, CIA. Each US state also has a reserve national guard under the command of the state governor that can be called on to deal with civil unrest such as riots, as well as natural catastrophes, e.g. earthquakes, fires, floods and hurricanes. It appears that all these police forces have their jurisdiction and laws governing their operations in the United States.
Speaking with Sunday Mirror, Prince Henry Osuagwu, the CEO of Zaka Guards, a security company, wonders why Nigeria cannot learn from developed countries. “Definitely Nigeria is under-policed. Take a place like Lagos as an example; we have about 20 million people living in Lagos. For one to police Lagos State alone, effectively and professionally, I believe that you need to look at the population. To me you need one policeman to three hundred individuals to effectively provide adequate policing. We have about 300,000 policemen in the country to police a population of about 200 million Nigerians. This is inadequate. In actual sense, we need about two million policemen in Nigeria. The Nigerian constitution says the Federal Government must protect lives and property. The new IG need to be on top of his game.”
“We also need intelligence. It is not just by numbers alone. You need intelligence gathering, data classification and investigation. If you just put a high number of policemen on ground without intelligence they will be running after crap. The population of Nigeria is not commensurate with the number of policemen on ground. This is a good place to start. In addition, Nigeria needs community policing. If we have what we call community policing and the local people can work directly with the police and they can give information to the police, then, our security situation will improve greatly,” he said.
According to the Governor of Akwai Ibom State, Chief Godswill Akpabio, state police is the only solution to resolving most of the intra-conflicts in the country. “In most developed democracies, policing is not a federal thing alone. In Abuja, policing 160 million is not possible. You must allow the local councils to have its say in policing. The state government should have its say and then the Federal Government should have its own say in policing,’” he said.
Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola, had said recently that, the state government must be involved in policing even if it is without arms. “There is a lot state police can do in a state like Lagos. They can help in the areas of sanitation as inspectors, protect lives and properties. The argument that politicians will abuse state policing is like saying that politics is more important than lives. Such an argument is weak,” he said.
For Chief Chekwas Okorie, the founding National Chairman of All Progressive Grand Alliance, APGA, state police is the reform that is needed to check criminal activities and even reduce corruption within the police force and the society. “It is not that it is the answer to all of these but the issue of effective policing in Nigeria can never be achieved with the present structure of the Nigerian Police”, he noted.
Former Military President Ibrahim Babangida also sees nothing wrong with the call for creation of State Police. “There is the need for us to go forward; I do not think there is anything wrong with the state police and I believe that the state police will work. “In 1959, the police and Dandokas (local police) were used to beat and harass people in elections, but the situation is different now. I don’t believe the fear of what happened in the 1950s should continue to haunt us. We should try to move on. We have gone beyond that level now in this country. Honestly, I don’t think any governor can use state police to intimidate and harass anybody. The whole essence is to provide security of lives and property of the people. I feel the fear is unfounded”.
According to lawyer and human rights activist, Mr. Femi Falana, SAN, , “The issue of establishing state police is not really about whether the country is ready for it or not. It is necessary in a federation. What has been militating against the re-establishment of state police has been the fear that the state executives, just like the Federal Government, can use the state police to harass political opponents. If Nigeria adopts the option of a state police, it would be going the way of Britain whose police maintain separate areas of jurisdiction ranging from county to county, borough or a group of many counties. The Metropolitan Police (under the Home Office), which covers an area of 15 miles radius, does not have jurisdiction over London, which has its own city police. Apart from this, the railway, dockyards and armed forces have their own police. There are also other specialised units like motor patrols, police dog handlers and an anti-riot mounted branch, ‘’ he said.
Barrister Jessica Ibeawuchi said, “The US is a classic example of how we can solve the problem of under policing in Nigeria. The United States has many police agencies that exist separately. While the state police take charge of highways and enforcement of state laws, cities have their separate police under the authority of a commissioner, who is an appointee of the mayor. At the federal level, there are nine agencies that work hand in hand with local police formations. We can just learn from this.”
Investigations reveal that France is another country that operates a decentralized police system. While the gendarmerie is supervised by the armed forces, the Surete Generale is under the authority of provincial prefects, the equivalent of governors.
Paris, the capital, has its own police, called the Paris Prefecture. In French, the term “police” not only refers to the forces, but also to the general concept of “maintenance of law and order” (policing). There are two types of police in this general sense: administrative police, uniformed preventative patrols, traffic duties, handling of the mentally ill, etc. judicial police
Law enforcement and investigation of crime, Thus, the mayor has administrative police power in a town (i.e. they can order the police to enforce the municipal by-laws), and a judge has police power in their court (i.e. they can have people who disrupt the proceedings expelled from the court room). Some other countries follow this model and have separate police agencies with the same role but different jurisdictions.
Local police or Gendarmerie precincts may not be capable of conducting complex investigations. For this reason, both the police and the Gendarmerie maintain regional services dedicated to criminal investigations. In addition, both the Police and the Gendarmerie maintain laboratories dedicated to forensics. Most criminal enquiries are conducted by the Police. Justice may choose either service; sometimes, if the judiciary is disappointed by the results or the methods of one service, it may give the enquiry to the other service. The National Police also features some central offices with national jurisdiction, charged with specific missions, such as the national anti-terrorist division.
James Xavier, a Nigerian who has traveled extensively says “the number of police officers in Nigeria in comparison to population is pitiable. The presence of a good number of policemen creates a sense of security and a conducive environment for economic growth. The seeming fear that the state governors will manipulate the state police at their whims and caprices is unfounded if, both federal, police agencies, state police and Local Government area police are informed of their jurisdiction and one is not an extension of the other, such that the governor cannot order the autonomous Police in the Local Government area like a puppet since the state does not pay them salaries. If it becomes the responsibility of the tier of Government to provide security for their sphere of authority, there will be a better move towards a more friendly and effective community policing in Nigeria. Today, the mention of the Nigerian police leaves a sour taste in our mouth. We need a more professional, de-centralized and effective police system that will uphold their commission oath to maintain law and order,” he said.
President Goodluck Jonathan in his part openly stated the government’s position at the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA conference. He expressed worry that state police force could be abused by the various state governments with reference to the manipulation of State Independent Electoral Commission (SIEC) by sitting governors.
However, in June last year, delegates at the National Conference in Abuja attempted to solve the problem of under policing Nigeria by resolving that states can in the future establish, fund and control a Police Force of their own, as well as put into place community policing, thereby proffering a solution to the problem of under policing in Nigeria.
The conference delegates noted that when enacted into law, this resolution will put to rest the long debate and controversies in Nigeria over the establishment of state police. The agreement was reached as the Conference considered the report of the Committee on National security.
“The state police when established by states that desired them are to compliment the efforts of the Nigeria Police Force. The areas of jurisdiction of the Federal police will cover the entire country and on clearly spelt out matters and offences while the jurisdiction of the State Police will cover the state and operate within the laws enacted by the State Assembly, the delegates had said in a statement.”
The conference had also decided that the government should set up a Counter Terrorism Architecture to take up such responsibilities such as harmonizing national counter terrorism efforts and providing the platform for foreign assistance.
“It would equally interface between Nigeria and Africa Union (AU) countries especially contiguous states such as Niger, Chad, Cameroun and African Center for the Study and Research on Terrorism and engage the services of well-trained counter terrorism operatives to work within the established in-country infrastructure,” the statement said.
A proposal for the establishment of a National Border Patrol Force to secure and protect the nation`s border was also approved by the conference. The Border Patrol Force is to be domiciled in the Ministry of Defense.
In mapping out security architecture for the country, the conference accepted the proposal for the creation of a Security and Intelligence Services Oversight Committee (SISOC).
The committee is to be composed of a retired Chief Justice of Nigeria as chairman, a former head of the Civil Service, and a former Director General of the State Security Service or National Intelligence, as members.
Similarly, the conference also accepted the proposal for the establishment of Water Way Safety Corps to man the waterways and riverine areas. The corps is expected to perform similar functions as that of the Federal Roads Safety Corps (FRSC)
The proposals mandating government to enact a law that would impose speed limit on convoys of government officials and limit to the number of vehicle to be in such convoys were also accepted by the conference.
The number of vehicles in the convoys is to be determined by Federal Road Safety Corps in consultation with the Police and the Department of States Security Service.
Such a law is expected to reduce the recklessness of convoys of government officials which had in the past led to loss of lives; it would also reduce wastage of government funds.
The conference also agreed that retired military personnel should be mobilized and trained to fight terrorism.
However, all these recommendations are yet to see the light of day and the problem continues unabated
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