What is wrong with Nigerian Police?
By Abdulrazaq Hamzat
Within the last 3 months, allegations of bribery, inefficiency and corrupt practices have been slammed against the Nigerian Police by 3 different bodies.
Firstly, it was a former police officer and high ranking member of National Assembly, Senator Isah Masau that painted the extent of corruption in the Nigeria Police Force.
Secondly, a reputable government agency, National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in partnership with United Nations (UN) reported the extent of bribery and corruption in the police, when it ranked it as the most corrupt public institution in Nigeria.
Then, just this past week, an International Organization, World Internal Security and Police Index International (WISPI) reported that the Nigerian Police is the worst in the world. The police rejected all the reports.
When allegations of corruption or inefficiency are slammed against the police, hardly does any Nigerian contest the allegation. For a long time, many Nigerians have held the view that the Nigerian Police is one of the most corrupt institutions in Nigeria. This is a tag the police authorities have often rejected.
However, the prevalence of bribe taking police officers in our stations and highways didn’t justify the denial of the police authorities. While the police may be correct that they are not the only corrupt institution in Nigeria or that those who alleged that the police are corrupt are themselves guilty of the crime, the fact available indicates that, police are very corrupt and we need to do something about it very quickly.
Some times in August 2017, a former police officer, now a Senator of the federal republic alleged that the police are guilty of bribery and corruption. The Senator claimed that the Inspector General Of police, Mr. Ibrahim Idris among other allegations, do collect bribe of over N10 billion monthly from banks, multinational corporations and other private organizations.
The IG was further accused of extorting money, ranging from N10m to N15m, from Commissioners of Police, State Mobile Commanders and Special Protection Units (SPU) Commanders, for favorable postings.
However, the Force Headquarters refuted the claims, insisting that Senator Misau deserted the Force upon been posted to Niger Command in September 2010. The Nigeria Police also said that Senator Isah Misau has no reasonable evidence to back the allegations of corruptions against the Force. The IG has dragged him to court as we speak.
Meanwhile, a brief investigation at the banks and other private organizations truly indicates that, private organization being served by the police have special funds being paid to police for security, but these funds does not go to the Federal Government.
Similarly, the National Bureau for Statistics, NBS stirred hornet’s nest few months ago when it released its corruption perception index report, which claimed that the police is the most corrupt public institution in Nigeria. The damning report came the same day the United Nations Office for Drug and Crimes (UNODC) released its own corruption report that said Nigeria spent N400bn annually on bribes to public officials.
Read Also:
According to the 2017 National Corruption Survey, 46.4 per cent of Nigerian citizens have had “bribery contact” with police officers. That is the worst case, compared to 33 per cent with prosecutors and 31.5 per cent with Judges/magistrates.
Again, the police authorities denied the claim of corruption as contained in the Corruption Index. Police spokesman Jimoh Moshood described the report of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) as false. He said: “Corruption is a personal thing and Nigeria Police Force is not a corrupt institution and it is not for anybody to have made such allegation. ”The allegations are mischievous because it is not empirical and we distance ourselves from such and we want all Nigerians to condemn such. ”In fact a lot of changes have been introduced into the Force to ensure that we are accountable to the people”, Nation quoted him as saying. The police said.
Then, another report came out from the World Internal Security and Police Index International (WISPI). The 2016 report rates the Nigeria Police Force the “worst” globally in terms of its ability to handle internal security challenges. The indices used in accessing 127 countries from four key areas, namely, capacity, process, legitimacy and outcomes, aim to measure the ability of the security apparatus within a country to respond to internal security challenges, both now and in future. According to the report, Nigeria police performed worst on the index on all the four domains, with a score of 0.255.
However, the Nigeria Police has once again reacted to the report in a negative way. The Police gunned down the ranking that puts it at the bottom of the world police formations and said it is the best in the world. “Nigeria Police Force is the best in UN Peace Keeping Operations, Best in Africa, One of the Best in the World the police said.
The police added that, after a careful study of the report and the news items emanating from it, it wishes to state categorically that the report is entirely misleading, a clear misrepresentation of facts and figures and essentially unempirical, considering the area of coverage of the report which was said to have been carried out in 2016 by the above mentioned associations.
One will begin to wonder, can all this organizations be wrong at the same time about police corruption and inefficiency or can the police denial erase the tag of corruption against the institution? I am of the view that, the Nigeria police should stop the denial and instead look deep within it ranks to correct some of the identified lapses that is making corruption strive within the institution.
If former police officers, reputable government agencies and NGO both locally and internationally are saying the same thing about the police, don’t you think it is high time for police authorities to swallow the bitter pills and embark on genuine reforms to get rid of corruption in the institution?
In peace and conflict circle, accepting the existence of the problem is the first step in correcting it. Instead of this continuous denial, the police authorities should ask themselves a simply question, ‘’what is wrong with Nigerian police’’ and set out an evidence based methods of addressing it.
13th Nov, 2017
Abdulrazaq O Hamzat is the Executive Director of Foundation for Peace Professionals and can be reached on [email protected]
