Reforms the police need now

Policemen in Nigeria, or anywhere for that matter, ordinarily ought to be friends to all law-abiding citizens. But over the years, with the unbecoming conducts of some men of the Nigeria Police in extortion, brutality, extra-judicial killing, and corruption among others, Nigerians have come to see police officers as anything but friends. 

And this is one of the reasons why I believe that, more than at any time in our national journey, we need to take urgent steps towards reforming our force and the officers and men that make it up especially with the unfortunate incident that happened on Boxing Day in Lagos when a drunken policeman killed twin-brothers and their friend before taking his own life.

The trigger-happy policeman, one Stephen James, with Force number 217884, who was reported to be guarding Paulson Hotel in Ikosi, Ketu, was said to have opened fire on the brothers, Taiye, a naval officer, and Kehinde, an engineer, and their friend, Jeje, who was celebrating his birthday that fateful day after the trio had cautioned him to stop harassing customers who turned down his requests to buy him beer.

The policeman was described by residents in the area as being notorious for shooting sporadically before the unfortunate incident even as complaints had been made on many occasions in the past to the hotel’s supervising manager for the man to be replaced but no action was taken, suggesting clearly that it was a tragedy that could have been prevented.

“After he killed the three guys, he wanted to enter the hotel premises but the gate had been locked from inside. He was frustrated and shot himself. Sometimes, when he is drunk, he would say, ‘I go kill 30 people, I go kill myself…no case,” an eye-witness, Dele, had explained to journalists after the incident.

I have recounted this story to illustrate the type of men we have in our police force and the type of mentality they have. And it is also to show that some of them are clearly not fit at all to wear the police uniform let alone being handed dangerous weapons by the state.

The bitter truth, which a lot of Nigerians can attest to, is that many of our men and women in uniform are uncouth, indecorous, and lack any form of respect for the lives of Nigerians or even for their own lives. I even doubt if there is any adult Nigerian today who doesn’t have at least one unpleasant experience with men of the Police to share.

Looking at some of the officers, many of them are unnecessarily antagonistic rather than cordial. It appears there is even a pre-programmed mentality and mindset to foment trouble for innocent Nigerians where there is none or just try and complicate simple matters.  And this is one of the reasons why many Nigerians hardly give information to the police voluntarily towards resolving a crime.

Yet, policemen are generally supposed to be nice and friendly folks who are only tough on the bad guys. But here, they appear to be tough only on the good guys while being nice and friendly to the bad guys.

Again, those who mete out jungle justice, whose actions are certainly not justified no matter their excuses, often justify their actions by saying it’s because of their fear that the police would take bribes from accused persons and release them, which forced them to take the law into their hands.

Also, the families of those who lost relatives just because they refused to part with ‘N20 egunje’ while on the road would never forget police brutality. While it is true that even in developed countries like the United States and United Kingdom, citizens also have their angst with the police as there have been extrajudicial killings there, the difference in their own systems, in comparison to ours, is that the perpetrators are eventually brought to justice and punished for their actions.  But Nigerians haven’t seen a lot of these.

Moreover, whoever goes to a police station to report a case would usually be required to pay for the transportation of the policemen who would be assigned to investigate it. And if care is not taken, complainant may eventually turn around to be labelled the accused. This is also why many Nigerians always pray never to have anything to do with police stations or policemen.

However, I’ll admit things are already changing now. But there’s certainly a lot more that can still be done. And that’s why I want to urge the Police IG, Solomon Arase, to step up his efforts as he works towards giving the country a police force whose perception by the members of the public improves considerably and one whose efficiency is the best that can be for any police force anywhere in the world.

With a New Year just days away, I sincerely and honestly think we need to pay serious attention to the quality of individuals being recruited into the force. The Nigeria Police needs to reform its recruiting process. Some things just require correction or amendment in the process through which people join the force.  It’s clear that background checks are not thorough enough even in the few instances where they are carried out.

Please, I seek your indulgence to share a story. About ten years ago, one of my senior friends told me of an experience he had during a visit to a Divisional Police Officer in Lagos. He had gone to see the officer concerning a robbery incident that happened in his neighbourhood. He was still discussing the incident with the officer when the DPO made a call and requested for some of his men to come in. My friend said he was shocked beyond words when the policemen walked in. One of the officers, he informed me, was a notorious thug in his hometown who was even renowned for armed robbery. How the guy managed to join the Nigeria Police, he couldn’t fathom. But there in front of him was the man. A criminal-turned-police officer being called upon to investigate an armed robbery incident!

Because I was interested in knowing the end of the story, I asked to know if he shared his discovery with the DPO eventually or kept the background of the policeman to himself. He said something to the effect that he later discussed the matter with the DPO since the man is someone he knows closely.

Now, whatever later happened to the policeman in question, I am unfortunately not able to report here but my friend insisted the policeman he saw was a notorious thief back in the days who had managed to find his way into the Nigeria Police!

I have shared the story to illustrate some of the characters we have in the Nigeria Police. I’ll confess that I don’t know the background checks the Nigeria Police does on those it recruits as its personnel. But these certainly need to be stepped up.  The current lot which include former thieves, drunkards, rapists, extortionists, and killjoys needs to be shaken up while the wheat and the chaff are separated. Although there are some very brilliant and impressive graduates in the force, with many even having Master’s degrees, a good number of them seem to have joined the police as a last resort to put an end to their unemployment and would not think twice before venting their anger or frustrations on innocent citizens.

Equally in need of change is how men of the Nigeria Police relate with the communities and divisions they operate in.  For instance, when an armed robbery operation is going on somewhere and well-meaning citizens call the police to alert them of the crime, the confidence of people in the community in the police gets no boost if policemen only arrive almost forty minutes after the robbers have long escaped. To make matters worse, they even go ahead to shamelessly arrest people in the community, a number of them victims who have no hand in the crime committed in any way whatsoever. And when they’ve established their innocence and it is time to release them, they demand for money to have them bailed even if the inscription on the walls of their stations read ‘Bail is Free.’

And how about the handling of weapons by men of the Nigeria Police? Terrible. Were it not for the fact that Nigerians are generally fearful and not trained in the martial art of self defence, it’s very easy to disarm many of our policemen with the way they carelessly handle their weapons. I know of a police DPO in Lagos who would shout on his men due to the risky manner they carry their weapons on the streets while patrolling. “If a criminal comes near you now, he would easily disarm and kill you with your own gun,” he would lament. In spite of his repeated warnings, that particular DPO unfortunately lost one of his men through the same issues he complained about.

Meanwhile, I still think martial art is one of the things all Nigerian citizens ought to be trained in because of its benefits especially in our type of environment where insecurity, kidnapping, armed robbery and other security issues remain challenges.

And we’ve heard and read of incidents in this country where police officers invited to wedding ceremonies mistakenly discharged their firearms and killed innocent guests, even celebrants. Different types of stories which are hard to believe but true.  How did it happen? You are left to wonder.

The maintenance culture of the Nigeria Police is also terrible. Many of the brand new vehicles bought for them by state governments or even donated by private organisations and well-to-do individuals are only good to look at for few months only. In less than a year, you will hardly be able to recognise them. Many of these vehicles are so damaged that were they to go in pursuit of an armed robbery gang, such vehicles can’t travel far before they totally break down.

While these vehicles are government property and police officers often complain that the government doesn’t provide them with money for vehicle maintenance,  I know that many of them who have personal vehicles will never allow their own cars to break down to the extent they allow the official patrol vans to break down.

Of all the Police IGs I have yet seen in Nigeria in recent times, the current Inspector General, Arase, seems to be the most impressive with his conduct in office so far. It’s clear he is a gentleman officer who really desires to improve the efficiency of the Nigeria Police and change the perception of the force in the eyes of Nigerians. I believe he should step up his efforts in reforming the Nigeria Police towards getting rid of the bad eggs. He must make the force more attractive for our smart and intelligent young men and women who are graduates to join. I, like many Nigerians, believe he can.

And no matter the errors of some of these men in uniform, we still must not fail to continuously encourage them as they risk their lives to ensure peace and security in our various localities, communities, towns, cities and across states of the federation.

Meanwhile, the Nigeria Police must remember to compensate the families of the three young men killed by one of own on Boxing Day. While it is true that no monetary compensation can ever be worth the value of a human life, it could provide some form of succour in taking care of the loved ones they left behind. I also hope that the Lagos state Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, who is showing himself as a compassionate leader, will find a way for the government to support Madam Beatrice Oyesolu, the 75-year old widow and mother of the twins who were killed, so that she would at least spend the remaining part of her life in peace and comfort.

To all my readers, I wish you a Happy New Year 2016 in advance.

Kolawole, an award-winning journalist and author, is the Publisher/CEO, POSTERITY MEDIA, a publishing and communication company, based in Lagos. You can follow him on twitter: @ofemigan