Events in the last few months indicate, to a large extent, that the Nigeria Police is helpless in the task of securing the nation. STEPHEN GBADAMOSI examines some of the sore points of policing in the country in recent time and the seeming helplessness of the force, and the challenges before the new IGP.

THERE is no gainsaying that Nigerians are daily becoming overwhelmed with the security  challenges starring their country in the face. The 1999 Constitution, in Part III, 214 (1), provides that “there shall be a Police Force for Nigeria, which shall be known as the Nigerian Police Force, and subject to the provisions of this section, no other police force shall be established for the Federation or any part thereof.”

No doubt, the constitution envisages that the Police would be saddled with the responsibility of maintaining law and order in the society. Sadly, it appears that the police are not capable of living up to this all-important responsibility. In the past, failure of the police to rise to the occasion of protecting Nigerians was always excused with the argument that they are ill-equipped, ill-motivated and ill-trained.

Even if they were half-hearted measures, as some Nigerians would argue, government took some steps to address some of these shortcomings said to be plaguing the police. One of such was the establishment of the Police Equipment Fund (PEF) saddled with the responsibility of assisting the force in procurement of necessary tools for its operations. The fund was, however, later dodged by various controversies. Nonetheless, the police would fail in certain areas, but not without giving a good fight.

Today’s challenges, it has been contended, have gone beyond what PEF would address. There seems to be a rot in the police that has rendered it spineless, whichever way it is equipped. It also appears that this was the message that sunk into President Goodluck Jonathan who tactically relieved Mr. Hafis Ringim of his appointment as the Inspector General of Police (IGP) and appointed M. D. Abubakar in his stead.

As part of the fallout of the precarious situation of security in the past few years, the president also announced the formation of a committee on police reorganization, headed by a retired DIG and chairman of the Police Service Commission (PSC), Parry Osayande. With eight other members, the committee’s term of reference includes; “to identify the challenges and factors militating against effective performance in the Nigeria Police and make recommendations to address them; to examine the scope and standard of training and other personnel development activities to determine their adequacy or otherwise; and to determine the general and specific causes of the collapse of public confidence in the police and recommend ways of restoring public trust in the institution.”

It was also mandated to look into records of performance of officers and men to determine those who are no longer fit into the system and to make any other recommendations to improve the police.

How this step and the assurances given by the new IGP will translate into a police that can live up to its name is, certainly, what Nigerians are waiting to see. This is because the past two years or so has presented a totally difficult scenario for the Nigeria Police. During this period, the police appeared to have totally buckled under the superior fire power of criminals, particularly daredevil armed robbers and members of the Islamist insurgent group, Boko Haram.

Matter seemed to have come to a head recently when a prime suspect in the December 25 Catholic Church bombing in Madalla, Niger State, Kabiru Umar, also known as Sokoto, escaped from police custody. The Madalla bombing was one of the retinue of high-casualty bombing escapades the Islamic sect has carried out in about two years.

The story circulating in the media has it that Sokoto, who was arrested at the Borno Governor’s Lodge in Abuja the day before his escape, was to be taken to his personal residence in Abaji, close to the Federal Capital territory (FCT), Abuja, for further investigation, on the order of the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of Zone Seven Criminal Investigation Department, Zakari Biu, when some hoodlums allegedly crowded round the police vehicle, attacked the men and freed the suspected felon.

Observers have pointed out that in all the reports, there had not been mention of the police being attacked with weapon of whatever kind. Some also wondered the kind of premium the police placed on the suspect, Biu, being the only link they had in the high profile case of cold-blood murder of over 40 persons on Christmas Day in the Madalla church, that the security agency would handle security around him with such seeming laxity.

The dust of all these had not settled when, about a month after the Madalla massacre, on January 20, 2012, terrorists struck again in the city of Kano. Though media reports had it that close to 200 people died in the multiple blasts, some residents said close to 300 would have died, judging by the magnitude of the attack.

Though, the police had in the past been accused of docility in carrying out its responsibilities, the fresh challenges thrown up by the advent of Boko Haram seem to have further put the force on the spot, making the people to see it as lacking in the wherewithal to protect them.

The latest events, particularly Sokoto’s escape and the second high-magnitude bombing within a space of one month, appeared to have made the seat of IGP too hot for Mr. Ringim, with calls from diverse members of the citizenry, professional groups, oppoeition and civil society groups calling for an overhauling of security forces leadership. He was promptly replaced by a former Police Commissioner in Plateau State, Abubakar. Despite Abubakar’s tough talks during the handing over ceremony between him and Ringim on Thursday, observers said signs that the police would change from its seemingly spineless nature were not discernable yet.

Right from 2009, when hundreds of people were reportedly killed when members of the Boko Haram sect stormed a police station in Maiduguri, the journey towards the demystification of the Nigeria Police seemed to have started.

In September 2010, members of the sect attacked and freed hundreds of prisoners from Maiduguri jail. The police could not do much about this either. It was shortly after their leader, Mohammed Yussuf, was allegedly murdered in police custody.

In December 2010, Boko Haram also took responsibility for a bombing in Jos, Plateau State capital, which reportedly killed about 80 people. It was also blamed for the attack on that year’s New Year’s Eve on Abuja barracks, while the police largely remained unable to unravel the mysteries.

Among other acts of terrorism carried out by the sect about which the sect seemed to have been able to do a thing were; the various shootings in Maiduguri between 2010 and 2011 in which many people were killed; the May 2011 bombing in several states after president’s inauguration; the bombing of Police Headquarters in Abuja in June 2011; the bombing of the United Nations (UN) headquarters in Abuja in August 2011; and the November 2011coordinated bomb and gun attacks in Yobe and Borno states, apart from the Madalla Christmas day mayhem.

The case of the June 16 daring move of the suicide bomber who drove explosive device-laden car into the headquarters of the Nigeria Police was seen by many as revealing the underbelly of the seeming incapability of the police. The bomber was reported to have targeted the vehicle of the then IGP, Mr. Ringim. After the blast, the IGP lived, but many other persons were not as lucky.

This was an incident that gave snaky creep up the spines of many Nigerians. The fear was that if the ‘hallowed headquarters’ of the nation’s security apparatus could be so easily permeated by criminals, what would be the lot of unguarded Nigerians?

Further prove that the operations of the Nigeria Police had lost its bite was that the Boko Haram bombers would later strike in other important places like the UN office in the FCT. This and many other bombings that occurred in cities close to Abuja also led many Nigerians to contend that the police have stopped commanding any respect from hoodlums.

Concerned Nigerians also cite incidents of robbery that characterized, particularly, the last half of the immediate past year.

On Saturday, August 1, 2009, robbers took over the Sagamu – Ore expressway. In an operation reported to have lasted hours. They were said to have ordered travelers out of a luxury bus and told them to lie on the expressway after they had been disposed of their belongings before an articulated vehicle on top speed ran over them, killing about 20 people. The police which teams usually patrolled the expressway couldn’t show up before the robbers fled the scene.

On Monday, December 19, 2011, robber bombed a police station in place called Aiyetoro Gbede in Kogi State and looted its armory. On the same day, they also attacked a first generation bank in the community, carting away money. Indeed, that incident was to be the beginning of a harrowing week, security wise, for the people of the state. The next day, Tuesday, while tongues were still wagging that the police could not rise to the occasion, reports had it that hoodlums returned to the state. About 20 armed men were said to have operated in Okene in broad daylight, attacking three banks and killing not less than 10 people. It was leant that people, including policemen, scampered to safety while the robbers took control of the town. The state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mr. Ajayi Okasomi, who was reported to have confirmed the robbery and was quoted as saying that the police found it difficult to contact their men in Okene from Lokoja, the state capital, “due to communication breakdown.” Not a few Nigerians were incensed by the excuse by the police. Chairman, Senate Committee on the FCT, Smart Adeyemi, was forced to petition the then IGP, Ringim, towards the close of last year.

He lamented that police had not been able to rise to the security challenges in his senatorial district.

“For about six months now, the security situation in that axis has been much tensed. It has been reported that an average of one or two bank robbery cases would be registered in a month within the area. All such other attendant vices include the incessant tales of highway robbery, armed robbery, kidnapping, robbery of police stations/posts in order to recover arms and ammunition and the heinous crimes of rape and arson.

“This pocket of occurrences has moved me to write to you. The safety of common man in Kogi West Senatorial District has been left to providence as little or no effect is made by the police, especially because they have been divested of their ammunition. This situation has impoverished my people because business activities are carried out under the fear of falling victim of robbery. Most importantly, commercial activities are stalled as banks have remained closed to customers in the area for fear of an attack.

“Also, in this yuletide season when all should be merry, a lot of my constituents are afraid to make trips to their own homes to spend the joy of the season with their respective families. The unfortunate situation has carved out a trend for market women to begin to demand for other means of payment for goods and services, other than cash. This is due to the fact that this season has been noted for a breakdown of law and order since majority of workers would be on holidays,” he said in a letter to the ousted police boss.

A situation similar to what happened in the North-Central state also played out in the South-West towards the end of the year. For many days consecutively, banks were afraid of opening to customers in Ogun, Oyo, Ekiti among others. Indeed, the situation in Akure, Ondo State appeared worse with many victims and a desolate state capital following the spate of robbery. In Oyo, the development prompted the formation of Operation Burst security outfit, populated by sldiers.

Speaking on the sordid state of policing in Nigeria in a recent interview, a former Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Alhaji Abubakar Tsav, opined that policemen did not even need to get all that they demanded for before they could function optimally.

“Let me tell you, if the policeman wants to work, you don’t have to give him everything that he requires. A lot of state governments have donated vehicles to the police; a lot of local government chairmen have been providing money to the police to fuel their cars for patrol, but sadly, most of these funds go into private pockets. Let me give you an instance.

“There was this DPO who was receiving N250, 000 every month to fuel his vehicles for patrol. And he had one vehicle which had broken down and all he needed to fix the vehicle was N5, 000, but he did not do that. He was busy collecting the N250, 000 every month for one year until his commissioner of police had cause to visit his local government and the chairman told him. The CP ordered him to return the money immediately.

“The police are the ones causing problems for themselves. I have evidence to proof all I have said. But when you talk to police authorities, some of them would say you have had your own time,” he said.

It, however, sounds interesting that Biu, who is now reportedly in trouble over the escape from custody of the prime suspect in the Madalla bombing, Sokoto, was the chief of the anti-terrorist team set up by the late General Abacha then, which Alhaji Tsav made allusion to in the said interview.

Many Nigerians, particularly those in the media, have also linked Biu with the mysterious deaths of Omatsola and Mr. Bagauda Kalto of TheNews magazine. These developments have caused many more Nigerians to ask if the existence of practices such as that which resulted in the re-absorption of Biu who had been dismissed from the police after Abacha’s death was not the reason the force has remained seemingly nonfunctional.

Similar reservations have been expressed about the new IGP, Mr. Abubakar, who, allegedly supported Muslims killing Christians in Jos when he was Police Commissioner of Plateau. Those who are skeptical about ability of Abubakar to be different also cited the report of a panel headed by retired Justice Niki Tobi that not only indicted the police top brass, but also recommended that he be relieved of his duty if he refuses to resign honourably. That was way back in 2001 and many are wondering how he had remained in the force till now.

And as if he has heard the cry of Nigerians, Abubakar said, “I will fight Boko Haram with seriousness.

Perhaps, now, Nigerians will, for the umpteenth time, give another policeman they are suspicious of the chance to give the outfit the force it needs to protect their lives and property.