Police can’t win
war against criminals with bare hands
By IKENNA EMEWU
Saturday,
December 29, 2007
London-based Nigerian lawyer and politician, Mr. Sabinus
Nzeh, the Buckinghamshire chairman of the PDP is not happy
with the way Nigerians see and describe the activities of
the Nigeria Police in relation to winning the war against
criminals.
“There is the urgent need to note that we are at war
with the criminals”, he said in an interview. “We
should always bear in mind that the effectiveness of the police
to give us security depends primarily on the nature and quality
of its understanding and relationships with the society”.
For the police, these pressures are particularly severe as
increasing demands are made on inadequate human resources
and limited equipment. In Nigeria, we impose such an order
of commitment on police officers as to put, even their marriages
and other personal relationships at risk. Under these pressures
it is natural for the police to feel secured. These include
having enough sophisticated equipment that will enhance first
of all their safety before the issue of mental obligations
or whatever we expect from them will come into being.
Not enough equipment
Yes, they are poorly equipped in relation to the magnitude
of the risks now in all corners. How many of them have reliable
protective equipment such as shoes, bullet-proof wears and
guns before we expect them to apprehend dangerous criminals.
We should recognize that the police service is a complex organization
serving society’s legislative demands and its more diffuse
norms. In practice, we are aware that the patrol officer has
considerable autonomy; working alone, exercising wide range
discretion in matters of utmost importance (life and death,
honour and dishonour) in an environment that is unpredictable
and hostile.
The attention of everyone must be drawn to this large task
whether or not there are some contrary views because there
is no alternative safe haven yet.
Remember, in every protective measure or aspiration, the police
are still the people we put between us and those who we would
not particularly like to deal with face to face. How many
of us are prepared to confront or challenge armed criminals
no matter the time and circumstances. But we all like the
policemen to come and clear up the mess when somebody gets
robbed, attacked or murdered.
Defending police reasonably
My answers are not aimed at defending the police in the event
of an unreasonable course but save only saying that Nigerians
should please cultivate an atom of human value for the police.
Let’s copy some leading nations in terms of how they
relate with their police. That is why all over the world the
death of servicemen including the police by violence is deeply
felt but in our own society this kind of wonderful respect
has completely disappeared.
We rather have decided not to acknowledge or show respect
over the sudden death of any serviceman in the course of an
official conduct. In most cases the bereaved families are
abandoned to grief alone and suffer for-ever whereas those
who might have the very courage to pursue whatsoever entitlements
would end up in bribing before whatever meager gratuities
are paid. Is this not ridiculous when you look at how much
Nigeria generates from oil daily?
Recommendations
If the police are not doing their job well; we must consider
first why or rather if their efficiency is impaired by whole
range of negligence or condition of service generally.
In my view of the kind of job the police do, they deserve
to be properly paid and housed but instead, squatting has
been widely spread in all police quarters in the country.
Their accommodations are bad because they are not regularly
maintained.
Their promotions are in such an unthinkable mess and by my
calculation; the Nigerian police is the worst paid government
institution all over the planet. That is why often times they
end up in transferring these humiliations and aggressions
unto the innocent people on the streets and on our highways
because they are pushed to be angry all the times.
Let us not deceive ourselves; the present insecurity in Nigeria
cannot be tacked only by the deployment of sharp shooters
all over the country as suggested recently by some people
and top police officers but by addressing the main causes
of these unfaithful activities. With the way the police are
roughly and harshly treated, we have indirectly made them
to have excuses not to challenge armed rubbers.
Encourage them
We owe them unreserved encouragement as it appears all over
the world and should work out the possibilities of a team
work between them and the public. In every successful policing,
the police have never worked alone. No doubt, because of what
they are going through either individually or collectively,
their moral obligations tend to have disappeared completely
and the criminals being part of us are not only aware of this
situation but also capitalize on the outcome of this incapacitation.
Again in reality, there is no way the present insecurity in
Nigeria can be tacked by the imposition of unnecessary curfews
here and there. Are we suffering from amnesia again? We should
ask ourselves whether these similar measures worked out in
the pursuit of dangerous criminals in the likes of Anini and
co. I have always said it that obedience that is based on
sanction has never worked out anywhere.
Political assassinations
Honestly this is a very difficult issue. However, in Nigeria
today we all share one common negative aspiration and of course
call it a deadly one. You don’t need to be told that
Nigerians are all in a hurry. The nation itself was amalgamated
in a hurry, built in a hurry in such a way that some people
are meant to enjoy steady degree of influence and importance.
This has led to disturbances and social divisions. Whilst
so many countries all over the world are working to balance
the differences between the rich and poor, the aristocrats
and commoners, we have instead made it increasingly important
to draw class distinctions everywhere you go in Nigeria where
some people would not look more alike and would have neither
opportunities nor incomes within a narrow range. In my view,
the increasing complexity of class definition is exaggerated
and has resulted into absolute abuse of power and resources.
Marginalizing ourselves
We have deliberately selected to marginalize our fellow citizens
and voiceless ones. The bad news is that we have ended up
in radicalizing them. In a situation like this, naturally
some of these people would be struggling to be in a category
of respectable status even if it involves crushing the sky.
This is what is happening now because we live a flamboyant
life-style of arrogance, suppression that has led to these
immoralities.
One dangerous aspect again is whether all these politicians
who are parading themselves to have secured the people’s
mandates were in actual fact duly elected. The reasons for
the increase in political agitations must be sorted urgently.
If you look closely in our recent elections, they were practically
based on selections and arrangements. Good enough our courts
are doing fantastically very well and I still wish the decisions
should be based on reality in order to root out these political
criminals. What I am saying is that, by the nature of all
these murder cases, one can argue that they are mostly based
on extreme acrimonies and revenge.
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