The Nigerian Police exists as a force to provide, er, security for Nigerians. It was established in by the colonial government. Its main purpose was to stifle dissent to colonial rule.
This particular mission statement is important, because asides from a few isolated cases, our police was never really an investigating force. Their brief did not change. The FG still used them to enforce their own point of view, even if that viewpoint was not entirely legal.
But at least they had the equipment to do their jobs. A criminal report in talked about fingerprinting, forensics and lab work. However, because of the role of the Northern Police forces in the pogroms of , the Gowon regime disbanded the regional police forces. The process of disbandment started in October and was complete by the end of As of , Nigeria had 12, policemen.
By , as a result of post-war expansion, there were 80, Most of them poorly trained. However, that democratic experiment was short-lived, and the various military governments thereafter saw the NPF as a potential threat to their power, and as a result deliberately underfunded the force.
The only serious attempt ever to look at police behaviour was a committee set up in Do these sound familiar? By the s also, whatever security budget the police may have had was also being shared. The UN recommends one police officer for every citizens of a country for effective policing. In , President Obasanjo ordered a recruitment drive to add 40, new officers each year for 5 years.
Again, about this time, in the EFCC was formed. But this is still a problem. Most recruits were not trained in policing techniques. In some cases, they were virtually taught just to shoot and sent on their merry way. Does this remind you of the recruitment drive that happened between and ?
It reminds me. Then there is the guard duty thing for VIPs. What this means is that in reality, Nigeria has , policemen for our population. That translates to 1 policeman per souls. It also means that even with the low man per population ratio, the police is chronically under-funded.
So, there is a HUGE problem. But asides the numbers, what are the other, probably more pertinent and structural problems of our police? There are police divisions in our country, police stations, and a total of official police posts. Policeman are often deployed, or redeployed across state lines, often without a local knowledge of their new deployment. Policemen are poorly paid, and have been known to seek supplementary income elsewhere. Like in the Judiciary, a new policeman in a posting often has to resume a case from the start leading to bottlenecks.
There has been a large clamour for states to have their own police forces in response to the apparent unwieldiness of the national force. People have kicked against this idea because of a fear that governors would turn such forces into private armies. The fears are born out of the role that the police under Hassan Katsina played in May — July , and the police under Sam Akintola in So they are not unfounded fears.
Again, and I repeat, the fear of politicians colonising state police are not unfounded. However, those fears are irrational. It is irrational to expect a policeman who has lived all of his life in Bukuru, Plateau, to suddenly become effective in Ojoto, Anambra. He does not speak the language, neither does he understand the customs. So the people will not trust him. Criminals often come from communities that they harass.
People are more likely to give them up to trusted policemen. The NPF performed conventional police functions and was responsible for. Duties within or outside Nigeria as directed. The Plans were announced in the mid to increase the force to Two hundred thousand , The British merged the Lagos colony and the southern and northern protectorates in and named the new colony Nigeria. By , following the budget of Nigeria, the NPF personnel were nearly One fifty-two thousand , , but other sources estimated it to be between 20, and 80, Police officers were not usually armed but were issued weapons when required for specific missions or circumstances.
They were often deployed throughout the country,. At the end of , the Nigeria Police Force was reformed throughout the country into seven regional commands. They replaced a command composition matching to each of the states in Nigeria. A commissioner led every command and later they were shared into police provinces and subdivisions driven by local officers. NPF headquarters, which was also an area command, supervised and coordinated the other area commands.
Later these Area Commands were grouped under Zone Commands as follows:. In , one more NPF reformation was declared. They were separated from the mobile police subdivisions with the aim to watch for political events and suppress disorders while there was a transition to civil rule. In , President Obasanjo ordered a recruitment drive to add 40, new officers each year for 5 years.
There are police divisions in Nigeria, police stations, and a total of official police posts. Section of the constitution denoted the NPF as the national police of the country with exceptional jurisdiction throughout Nigeria.
Also, constitutional provision determines the formation of NPF branches. Section of the Nigerian Constitution reads: There shall be a Police Force for Nigeria, which shall be known as the Nigeria Police Force, and subject to the provision of this section no other Police Force shall be established for the Federation or any part thereof. Section 4 of the Police Acts and Regulations lists the duties of the police force to include:.
The due enforcement of laws and regulations with which they are directly charged. The performance of such military duties within and outside Nigeria as may be required of them by or under the authority of the police act or any other act. Do you want your biography on Naijabiography?
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