The Nigeria Police Force (NPF), like the other arms of the armed services, is grossly underfunded. That’s not an excuse for the rampant cases of corruption and police brutality that the #EndSARS protesters are helping us to fight.
Our police, especially the rank and file, are marginalized and oppressed. Members of other fraternities could go on strike or stage a protest to ventilate their grievances, the police do not have such latitude. Being an armed force, an attempt to go on strike may be regarded as a mutiny, which their oath of office forbids.
In the armed services, it is do or die. A protest is an act of disloyalty to the service rule, which attracts severe sanctions. Since they can’t openly confront the authorities about their plight, the police transfer their frustrations to the masses, a typical case of transferred aggression. That’s the tap root of what we now call police brutality, as symbolized by the excesses of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS).
That’s not to suggest that the police should be excused for their bad behaviour. I just want to put these whole problems of brutality in context. For every action, there’s a reaction. ##EndSARS is a reaction. Now, let’s talk about the action that prompted this reaction that has cost us many lives and widespread destruction of property.
Police administration is in a sorry state. Salaries are poor and often delayed. The conditions of service are pitiable and ridiculous. To go into the details of the service conditions would eat up my space and I have just a 900 word limit on this page, so, I implore you to check the Internet for details.
Many police stations are given N34,000 (Thirty-four thousand naira) per quarter to run their affairs, according to Jide Otitoju of TVC Journalist Hangout programme. Just N34,000! Little wonder most stations have no functional toilets, no money for stationery. That’s why complainants are often asked to pay for paper and biro, pay for transportation to pick up accused persons, because station vehicles are broken down, and no money to fix them.
When a complainant or an accused pays for service a police station ought to render free, justice is compromised. And because there is no budget to run the station, policemen and women are sent to the field to look for a way to make money for the station.
They are posted to lucrative beats where arrests could be made on minor offenses or flimsy infractions. The offender pays their way out in the form of a bribe, which the policeman/woman on the field renders as returns to the boss at the station. It is this system they use to run the station, since they have no real budget. This system of institutionalized corruption is at the heart of our police crisis.
Under-funding of the police landed us in this quagmire. Successive governments have tried to address this problem but their solutions were not far-reaching. What the police need to run efficiently is huge compared to the peanuts they get annually from government.
Apart from welfare issues, the police need equipment. Panelists on TVC Journalist Hangout mentioned during discussions on Tuesday, October 27, 2020, that, sometimes, police officers buy bullets themselves. Can you imagine that!
Sometimes, to close the funding gap, police stations raise funds from communities where they are located. Funds realised from such efforts are used to buy vehicles, renovate dilapidated infrastructure, procure electricity generators and run the office. While community support for the police is not really a bad idea, wealthy criminals could hijack such noble efforts to control a whole police station.
This is why the Lagos State Security Trust Fund, a funding initiative of the state government, should be applauded. The state also led the way in setting up security outfits like the Operation Sweep, now rechristened Rapid Response Squad, specifically to combat crime when the crime surge became worrisome in the state during the Abacha military regime. Other states copied the idea when it was seen to be effective.
After all said and done, the issue of discipline in the police force must now be addressed vigorously. The law is no respecter of persons, but the police sometimes breach the laws they are supposed to defend. You see them drive against traffic when there’s really no emergency to warrant such action. In this COVID-19 era, many policemen and women do not wear masks, when the law forbids such. They force you to pay for bail when it is clearly illegal to do so.
Most policemen clamour to be posted to juicy beats. Some in the rank and file even bribe their superiors to get good postings. When challenged, the police officers defend the illegality on the grounds that their men buy their own uniform and other accessories from the proceeds of monies made on the field.
The entire police structure is defective. No form of cosmetic changes can end the rot in the system. It needs a holistic overhaul. And, if the truth must be told, the entire armed services, including the para-military forces, must be reformed thoroughly, if we are to have very effective, decent, humane and responsive armed services.
Weekend Spice: Satan can’t do anything to you without your consent and cooperation – Andrew Wommack
Ok folks, thanks for reading. Let’s do it again next Friday. Stay safe, COVID-19 is real. Stay motivated.
•Ayodeji, author, activist, and pastor, can be reached on 09059243004(Whatsapp/SMS only).