1.0. INTRODUCTION
The Nigerian Police (NP) is designated by the 1999 constitution as the national police of Nigeria with exclusive jurisdiction throughout the country. The Nigeria Police Force was under the general operational and administrative control of an Inspector General (IGP) appointed by the president and responsible for the maintenance of law and order. The Nigeria police is a constituted body of persons empowered by the state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and the use of force legitimized by the state via the monopoly on violence.
Nevertheless, in Nigeria, the reverse is the case; police officers of all ranks regularly perpetrate crimes against the citizens they are mandated to protect. Hence, countless ordinary Nigerians attempting to make precarious ends meet as taxi drivers, market traders, and shopkeepers are accosted on a daily basis by armed police officers who demand bribes and commit human rights abuses against them as a means of extorting money.
It is worthy to note that for many Nigerians the police force has utterly failed to fulfill its mandate of providing public security. However, the respect or honor which is supposed to be accorded to the Nigeria police has lost its way into oblivion. Amidst this mess we found the Nigeria police, their due dignity can still be restored and this is the prospect of this article.
2.0. ANALYSIS OF THE CONCEPT POLICE AND THE BASIC DUTIES OF THE NIGERIA POLICE
The full form of POLICE is Public Officer for Legal Investigations and Criminal Emergencies. The word police is related to the Greek words politeuein, which means to be a citizen or engage in political activities (the Nigeria Police are regarded as part of executive aim of the government) and polis, which means a city or state. In Nigeria, every area has a police station whos in charge is the Station House Officer. It is a government job. Every police station consists of Sub Inspectors, Assistant Sub Inspectors and Constables. The Police officers usually have Khaki color uniforms.
The duties of the Police are provided for under section 4 of the Police Act 50 as follows:
The police shall be employed for the prevention and detection of crime, the apprehension of offenders, the preservation of the law and order, the protection of property and the enforcement of all laws and regulations with which they are directly charged and shall perform such military duties within or without Nigeria as may be requested of them by or under the authority of this or under any Act.
The promotion and protection of human right is at the very core of policing. The enforcement of laws the maintenance of peace and order are first and foremost about protecting the rights of citizens, and thus the role of police personnel in protecting and respecting the rights of every individual is fundamental.
The Nigeria police are saddled with the below responsibilities:
A. The power to arrest offenders
B. Preventing crime
C. Protecting the lives and the properties of the Nigerian citizens
D. Detection of crime or a person who committed the crime
E. Maintaining of law and order in the society
The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. They are uniformed individuals who are responsible for keeping law and order intact. They are a group of personnel who are there to enforce laws, to prevent any kind of civil disorder, save lives, and punish criminals.
Apart from the aforesaid duties of the Nigeria Police, the following according to Idowu Johnson (2013) are added to their duties:
1. The police officers are community leaders in public safety
2. Possess broad discretion
3. Solve sociological and technological problems
4. Occasionally serve in a hostile or dangerous environment (ibid)
3.0. REASONS WHY NIGERIA POLICE LOST HER DIGNITY
The Nigeria Police Force, established in 1930, has a long history of engaging in unprofessional, corrupt, and criminal conduct put together with the violation of human rights for which the Nigeria police ought to protect are the core reasons why the Nigeria police lost her dignity. Hence, a salt that lost its saltiness will be trampled upon for it has no value again. It is disheartening that members of the force are viewed more as predators than protectors and the Nigeria Police Force has become a symbol in Nigeria of unfettered corruption, mismanagement, and abuse.
According to Human Rights Watch (HRW), "Extortion, embezzlement, and other corrupt practices by Nigerias police undermine the fundamental human rights of Nigerians in two key ways. First, the most direct effect of police corruption on ordinary citizens stems from the myriad human rights abuses committed by police officers in the process of extorting money. These abuses range from arbitrary arrest and unlawful detention to threats and acts of violence, including physical and sexual assault, torture, and even extrajudicial killings.
The police frequently extort money from the public at taxi stands, in marketplaces, or while going about their daily lives. However, the most common venue for extortion occurs at police roadblocks, ostensibly put in place to combat crime. In practice, these checkpoints have become a lucrative criminal venture for the police who routinely demand bribes from drivers and passengers alike, in some places enforcing a de facto standardized toll. Motorists are frequently detained and endure harassment and threats until they or their family members negotiate payment for their release. Extortion-related confrontations between the police and motorists often escalate into more serious abuses. The police have on numerous occasions severely beaten, sexually assaulted, or shot to death ordinary citizens who failed to pay the bribes demanded.
The police commonly round up random citizens in public places, including mass arrests at restaurants, markets, and bus stops. In some cases of blatant deception, plainclothes police officers simply masquerade as commuter minibus drivers, pick up unsuspecting passengers at bus stops, and take them at gunpoint to nearby police stations where they demand money in return for their release. The police often make little effort to veil their demand for bribes, brazenly doing so in open corridors and rarely bothering to question those in detention about any alleged crime. Those who fail to pay are often threatened and unlawfully detained, and at times sexually assaulted, tortured, or even killed in police custody. Many of these abuses are perpetrated as a means to further extort money from ordinary citizens or from fearful family members trying to secure the freedom of those detained.
Second, these criminal acts by the police, coupled with their failure to perform many of their most basic functions, severely undermine the rule of law in Nigeria. The police routinely extort money from victims to investigate a given criminal case, which leaves those who refuse or are unable to pay without access to justice. Meanwhile, criminal suspects with money can simply bribe the police to avoid arrest, detention, or prosecution, to influence the outcome of a criminal investigation, or to turn the investigation against the victim.
Ordinary Nigerians are further denied equal protection under the law due to a widespread practice whereby senior police officers sell for their own personal enrichment police protection to Nigerias wealthy elite. By the inspector general of polices own account, in 2009 at least 100,000 police officers were working as personal guards for the wealthy, at the expense of the majority. In addition, the abject failure of the police to provide for the security of ordinary citizens has led some communities to turn for protection to armed vigilante groups who often operate outside the law and commit further abuses".
4.0. THE WAY FORWARD TO RESTORING THE LOST DIGNITY OF THE NIGERIA POLICE
In other to restore them already lost dignity of the Nigeria police a strict and immediate action must be taken to see that the proposed recommendations are put to practice.
1. The Nigeria Police Force should be stopped from being personal body guard to wealthy people and politicians: This however undermines their integrity and it need to put an end to this current abuse while restoring some measure of respect and dignity to the Nigeria police. Besides, at a period of national security emergency, such as we have in Nigeria today, this misuse of men and officers of the police and other security outfits should not be allowed to continue. Our policemen--who in the past used to quell civil disturbances while managing emergency situations--should not be reduced to mere personal guards. The level of degeneration is such that all manner of characters now goes about with policemen who carry bags and umbrella for them. The Inspector-General of Police must put an end to this glaring abuse that continues to cause image problem for the police and undermines the capacity to perform their constitutional responsibility of maintaining law and order.
2. There should be an immediate increase in the salaries of the police officers of the following ranks:
A. Sergeant Major on Grade 06 (step 10)
Salary per month: N62, 204.88
B. A Sergeant Major on Grade 06 (step 1)
Salary per month: N55.144.81
C. Police Sergeant on Grade 05 (step 10)
Salary per month: N55, 973.90
D. Police Sergeant on Grade 05 (step1)
Salary per month: N48.540.88
E. Police Corporal on Grade Level 04 (10)
Salary per month: N51, 113.60
F. Police Corporal on Grade 04 (1)
Salary per month: N44, 715.53
G. Police Constable Grade Level 10
Salary per month: N51, 113.60
H. Police Constable Grade level 03
Salary per month: N43. 293.80
J. The Police Recruit
Salary per month: N9, 019.40
Just imagine a family man/woman who is expected to take care of his family can cope with N9, 019.40 as his/her monthly salary? They resort in extorting money from the road users they suppose to protect. According to Oludayo Tade on the story he shared with the Punch News:
A policeman whom I met on my way to Ibadan from Ogun State recently. They were about four at the checkpoint on a highway. It should be noted that police checkpoints are usually mounted at dangerous points on the road-at road meanders, top the hill and potholes with the aim of making it difficult for would-be victims to escape. My car was flagged down and I had to pull over. Looking at my car, he saw the Press sticker and jokingly asked if I ask you to give me something (money) for the weekend now, wont you give me? I replied that I dont give police money adding that I would even collect from him. That was where the revelation started. It is not a tale that I have not heard before as a journalist of over 15 years, but that a policeman stood with me for about 20 minutes was significant for me. I also promised to write about it. He was in the affirmative, an indication that he wanted things changed or remedied. How can we expect them to perform their duties when they worry about patrol vehicles?
The police patrol van which they brought to the location was reportedly being maintained by the team. He told me that they maintain the vehicle from the money they make on the highway. Two days earlier, before we met, he told me that they had to repair the vehicle with close to N20, 000 which was part of what they were planning to share for the month. This gave me insight into the lucrativeness of highway extortion and this may be higher depending on the location, the vulnerability of road users plying that axis and the time of the week the checkpoints are mounted. Monies extorted from motorists are shared between those on the patrol and their Ogas at the top in the office-the Divisional Police Officer. Only faithfulness will keep officers on the posting when returns are made to the superior in the office...
The story made a good analysis that the government does not take adequate care of the Nigeria Police Force. Money for the maintenance of each police station should be included in the annual budget and should be monitored to see it is used for its purpose
3. Psychological seminars should be conducted monthly for both the police officers of all ranks and those who are zealous to join the Nigeria Police. Specialists in this field should be employed to re-orientate their psychic and ideology on the police force morality and ethics and not what is obtainnable directly in the institution.
4. A new monitoring team should be set up to check the activities of the police force. This new team should be well educated on the task in which they are expected to perform and also they should be well paid.
5. There should be immediate
prosecution of any police office without prejudice who is found disobeying the police code of conduct or found violating the human right in which he/she is meant to protect.
6. The Nigeria police should go back to maintaining their fundamental duties of why the institution was formed which I have listed at the beginning of this paper. This will help them be the people's friend and make them regain the peoples trust which they have lost. They should also respect the fundamental human rights of the people for which they are meant to protect and stop harassing people or intimidating civilians who try to enjoy his/her fundamental rights.
5.0. CONCLUSION
However, the need for restructuring Nigeria has been the clamour of the Nigerian political world today; hence, the major institutions that are key players in Nigeria should not be left out. The Nigeria police force needs total restructuring of its formation and training. They should be given the highest and best military training and they should be equipped with the best weapons in other to be able to maintain peace and security in Nigeria. Finally, I recommend that any measure deemed to the be best together with the one's proposed by this write-up should be taken to see that the dignity of the Nigeria Police Force is restored.
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