According to the recently released World Internal Security and Police Index by the International Police Science Association IPSA, and the Institute for Economics and Peace, the Nigeria Police Force is rated as the worst in the world. This rating was swiftly rejected by the force. The force even went further to assert itself as the best in Africa.
The Nigeria Police Force is tasked with the responsibility of enforcing law and order in the country. But unfortunately, it has low staff strength of about 370,000 personnel. This translates to 1 officer per 459 Nigerians. Yet, a chunk of these officers are deployed to provide security to high ranking police officers, politicians, foreign envoys, peace keeping operations, all branches of commercial banks, judges, Royal Highnesses, the rich who can afford and business tycoons. The rest are expected to attend to kidnappers, arm robbers, and other internal crises.
To most Nigerians, the name ‘Police’ is Synonymous to the word ‘bribe’. Police seem to be the most disregarded armed personnel in the country. A mere visit to a police station leaves a person in awe. When a relative of mine recently got into the hands of an elite police team, I was opportune to spend almost the whole of two days following up on the case. The way most of the police officers conducted themselves is sad, pathetic and mostly unprofessional. The lack of synergy among the elite police team members is so clear and open to the eyes.
Even the team leader gives conflicting accounts of the case. Clearly indicating a lack of full knowledge concerning what he’s trying to resolve. As for other personnel in the station, it is either they are sleeping, in cluster chatting and not at alert at all, or extorting. The number of bus drivers, tri-cyclists, and motor cyclists that are regularly brought in by traffic warders is unprecedented. In the open, you can hear officers negotiating bribes with these drivers to secure release of their vehicles.
Surprisingly, the security personnel manning the gate never bothered to conduct the most basic of security checks before letting my car into the station. In the open, you can see officers wearing bathroom slippers, unkempt uniforms, with some, especially the bosses in mufti throughout the day. The most disturbing part was when an officer shamelessly rolled his weed and was smoking in our presence. Another officer was drunk as early as 10am to the extent of falling while descending the stairs.
Whether it is because the force is underfunded, or it is a technique of extortion, the personnel handling cases will insist suspect pay operational expenses resulting in his arrest alongside bail sum. At a point, the personnel attached to secure my un-cuffed relative were busy sleeping to a point where people come in and go out without his knowledge. Towards the end of my stay at the police station, a tri-cycle filled with bottled water and assorted drink was brought as bribe by the association of marketers and distributed among top police officers.
The conclusion by two international bodies about the Nigeria Police Force being the worst in the world is not a thing of surprise. And unless the federal government is willing to increase the number of police personnel, adequately fund them, and constantly engage them in training to discharge their responsibilities in line with global best practices, it won’t be a surprise if the force maintains its present ranking next year.
Yahya Idris, Abuja.
