By Douglas Ogbankwa Esq.
Nigeria appears to be the only country in the world where the police arrest suspects before an investigation even begins.
Reason: There are no adequate resources available for the police to function effectively.
The average Nigerian police officer is akin to a national orphan in the execution of his duties.
He uses his personal call credits to make official calls. Most tactical units lack operational vehicles. When you see policemen collecting money at checkpoints near a patrol van, that money is often used to fuel and repair the vehicle. If they dont collect those funds, there may be no policing at the local level in many parts of Nigeria.
Some officers attached to private individuals buy their own bullets.
The Nigerian Police Force is grossly underfunded. The fact that they are achieving any level of success in crime-fighting, given their minimal funding, makes them look like magicians.
There are no functional forensic laboratories in each state of the federation.
There is no widespread deployment of CCTV cameras in public places.
There is no national biometric or forensic database in Nigeria.
Anyone can commit a crime, leave blood at the crime scene, and still go scot-free.
The Nigerian police remain among the few in the world still doing manual policing without any form of technological infrastructure. Yet, when they die in service, only a pittance is offered to their next of kin which often takes years to process.
It might shock you to learn that a Commissioner of Police does not earn up to �1,000,000 (One Million Naira) per month. Now imagine what a constable earns. We pay lip service to critical issues in this country.
If you want a case investigated by the police, you must pay for everything not necessarily because the officers want to extort you, but because the investigation process itself is not funded.
You can have a very good case, but if you do not have money to support the investigation, the case becomes DOA Dead on Arrival.
It is a very big problem. Everyone remains quiet as if all is well.
The truth is, until we fund our police system, we will never get the desired results. Police officers are ready to work when they are well-funded and properly motivated.
The National Assembly should urgently amend the relevant laws to restructure the funding model of the police. Just as the federal government now credits funds directly to the 774 Local Government Councils, funds should also be directly disbursed to every Police Post, Division, Area Command, State Command, and Zonal Headquarters. This would ensure that funding reaches the operational units that need it.
The current centralised system is not working. Nigerian politicians are comfortable with the dysfunctional state of the police:
Underfunded, undermotivated, undertrained, under-kitted, under-armed, and lacking basic technological support. This dysfunction allows them to get away with a lot. The Nigeria Police Trust Fund should be rejuvenated and backed by solid legislation.
We must attract private sector funding and also ensure accountability in the use of funds generated from units like the Police Special Protection Units (SPUs).
The business arms of the police such as the Nigeria Police Microfinance Bank, Police Properties, Police Pension Scheme, and Police Cooperatives should be revamped.
What is due to officers, both rank and file, should be released to them without delays or denials. They should not be underpaid, and their entitlements should never be withheld. Police officers should also enjoy the same pension scheme as the military and other armed services.
The current pension and gratuity arrangements for the police leave much to be desired. We must care for our police officers even after retirement, as this is a key deterrent to corruption among those still in active service. The current vehicle auction system should be overhauled.
There should be transparent, advertised public auctions of abandoned or decommissioned police vehicles to raise more revenue. The police should leverage forfeiture laws in criminal prosecution cases. They should also support their legal officers, who are currently poorly motivated.
Police lawyers pay their own practising fees, bar conference fees, stamp and seal costs, and in some cases, even pay to file court processes on behalf of the police.
There is no incentive when they win cases and I must say, based on experience, these lawyers are doing an excellent job under the circumstances. Police lawyers should be treated as specialists, just like doctors, EOD experts, pilots, and K-9 handlers.
Accordingly, all police officers who are lawyers, but still of the rank and file, should be enrolled in batches at the Police Staff College, Jos, for their Officers Course, enabling them to rise as Senior Police Officers (SPOs).
We must encourage and motivate our police officers. They are doing their best, except for a few bad eggs. When you interact with some other Nigerian security agencies, you will appreciate the popular saying: The Police is your friend.
About the Author:
Douglas Ogbankwa is a legal practitioner and the Convener of the Security Situation Room. [email protected]
