Press Statement: The Removal of the Inspector General of Police and the Proposed Police Reforms!!!

We welcome with mixed feelings the announcement few hours ago by Presidential Spokesman, Dr. Reuben Abati, of the removal of the Inspector General of Police (IG), Hafiz Ringim, other top echelon of the Nigerian police, the appointment of Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) Muhammed Abubakar as Acting IG and the setting up of a panel (committee) for a proposed police reforms. We say with mixed feelings because the removal of the IG and his top team was long overdue especially in the wake of the alleged escape of the Boko Haram suspect, Kabiru Sokoto from police custody. Our belief has always been that, he was actually set free and told to walk away by strong insider connections within the police force. Having said so, we must concede that the removal is still a step in the right direction.

However, these changes in the police hierarchy and the setting up of a panel or committee for a proposed police reforms are only an initial act and not a magical wand that will make any appreciable difference, as the system that produced the newly appointed Acting IG Muhammed Abubakar might not allow him to function if concrete measures are not taken to implement the work of the proposed police reforms committee and overhaul the entire police force in this country. This is very important because the problem of the Nigerian police force has not been that of a dearth of committees or panels for we’ve had several of them; the real problem is that of political will by successive governments.
The proposed police reforms are noteworthy, but it must not be allowed to end up as a mere academic exercise or intellectual theatrics simply to score cheap political points.
A situation where the morale of the officers of the Nigerian police is continually low and dampened due to poor wages and dehumanising welfare packages does not augur well for the security of lives and property in our nation.
How can a police constable be receiving N20, 000.00 monthly? How can he and his family be living on less than N1, 000.00 a day; a salary that can’t even pay his personal bills much less that of his family?
It will be recalled that before the review of emoluments of the police force by the Yar Adua Administration, the condition of the Nigerian police was so deplorable. A police Inspector for instance was earning a little less than N14, 000.00 monthly.
After the review however, things brightened up a bit but the welfare of the Nigerian policeman is still far from okay. Even with the last review by the Yar Adua Administration, a superintendent of police salary is still far below N150, 000.00 monthly. And just like millions of other Nigerian workers, the new minimum wage signed into law over 18 months ago by the Jonathan Administration is yet to be implemented for the Nigerian police, yet government officials in the last four years has reviewed their emoluments upward by over 2000%; forget about the so-called miserly slash of their allowances being mouthed about in recent times by the President and Commander in Chief. A Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria for instance currently earns more than N350million annually, where a police commissioner gets far less than N10million annually as his emoluments; some others in the police force and the general public gets far less than N500,000 annually, yet we all buy and sell in the same market. How then can the police properly maintain law and order with such pay? This is why they degenerate to criminal acts. But this is not to say that it is right for the police to take to extortion and criminal acts because of poor remuneration and humiliating conditions of service. After all before a man is offered an appointment, the conditions of service are first made known to him, and he has the final say on whether to accept or reject the offer. There is therefore no justification whatsoever for a man to accept a job based on the conditions of service given him and then turn around and start whining or taking to acts inimical to the ethics of the job. It is an eternal shame to officers of the police force that they have debased themselves so low to the public, as they have no excusable reasons for their lawlessness. However, this is a matter for another day.
The men of the Nigerian police aside from the poor pay are also forced to buy their own uniform and shoes, whereas government provides free uniforms and shoes for the armed forces. This is double standards and it is unfair. The officers of the police force equally do not have access to quality information and the training needed to do the job. There are no state of the art gadgets or modern scientific methods of training available to them for the battling of crime. Often, they are forced to face superior firepower with nothing.
Our research reveals that the Nigerian police is so poorly kitted and shabbily treated that it breeds frustration and anger amongst the rank and file of the police force. This frustration and anger often snowballs and is vented on innocent and harmless citizens that the police ought to protect. Even the huge sums of money voted for the police force in the annual budget is always mismanaged by the corrupt top brass of the police force in collusion with other corrupt government officials; it never really gets down to the middle or lower cadre of the police force.
Government must therefore use this reforms opportunity to overhaul the entire police force and clean up all of the mess it is enmeshed in, re-orientate the policemen, pay them better wages and kit them up properly to meet the realities of today’s world. The Jonathan Administration must honestly admit that the nation’s police force needs urgent help and the Administration must provide that help by ensuring that the police force is adequately trained and exposed to standard best practices. Only then will the Nigerian police start living up to expectation, and public confidence in the police force restored.
Comrade Eneruvie Enakoko
Editor in Chief and Spokesperson
eenakoko@consciencereports.tv

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