A stern looking and gun-totting
policeman mounting guard at the entrance of the police station yelled,
“Who are you looking for?’’
“The Divisional Police Officer,” this correspondent replied.
After being informed the DPO was not around, the visitor requested to see the divisional crime officer.
While being led into the arrival room of
the police station, which is popularly called the charge room, he was
welcomed by three photographs hanging on the walls, directly opposite
the entrance of the station.
The pictures were those of the Governor
of Ogun State, Ibikunle Amosun; the Inspector General of Police, Mr.
Mohammed Abubakar and the Ogun State Commissioner of Police, Mr.
Ikemefuna Okoye, showing them wearing a smiling look, which sharply
contrasted with that of the policeman at the entrance of the station.
Inside the charge room, clothes of
officers and men of the station hanged precariously on the walls, while
the policeman behind the counter, hitherto flipping through some
documents, asked, “Oga, how we can help you?”
After some interaction with him, this correspondent sat on one of the two haggard benches positioned beside the wall.
One side of the wall has been turned
into a blackboard of some sort, serving as an official “portal” for
registering the number of suspects being held in the station’s detention
facility. There is no computer system in the charge room, which is the
main administrative office of a police station.
When this correspondent sought to use
the toilet, he was directed to one of the uncompleted structures behind
the main building. As the policeman later revealed, the arena is the
best bet for whoever is to pressed by nature as the toilet within the
building is not usable as it is in a state of disrepair.
Besides, the premises of the station was
packed full of abandoned vehicles and motorcycles, many of which were
either impounded by policemen on sundry grounds, those involved in
accidents, or meant to be used as an exhibit for a criminal proceeding
in court. The surrounding area looked like a mechanic workshop
–disorganised, unkempt and unattractive.
But while the abandoned vehicles have
taken shine off the aesthetic value of the premises, they serve as
relaxation arena for policemen within the station. The fact is that
although policemen are known to work in a high-stress environment, such
that on each passing day, they tackle security challenges, in Nigeria
little is being done to satisfy their relaxation needs.
The above scenario is a sample of what
obtains in many police stations across the country. Apart from the fact
that many of them are lacking in aesthetics, the state of affairs in
many of them dampens the morale of an average policeman.
Police stations–children of circumstance
A Divisional Police Officer in Lagos,
who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the poor outlook of the
police stations could be traced to neglect of the institution in terms
of funding over the years.
He lamented that many of them were
constructed far below international standards because members of the
public were the ones who pulled their resources together to build them
as they were determined to have police presence in their areas.
He added, “Because members of the
community are the ones who often rally round to build many of the
stations you see today, the structures being erected don’t in anyway
conform to international best practices of what a standard police should
look like.
“As soon as these so-called stations are
built, the police just go there to take possession and that is why you
will hardly see police stations having relaxation facilities. This makes
many of our men to resort to sleeping in abandoned vehicles in the
station as well as interrogation and charge rooms, among others.
“In fact, many police stations don’t
have operations rooms, which are supposed to house the base set for
communication, standard map of the area under its jurisdiction and a
host of their facilities.”
Asked if the problem of underfunding of
the police is not having a toll on acquisition of security equipment
such as guns, ammunitions and riot-control equipment, the senior police
officer said, “Even if funding is affecting the acquisition of security
and intelligence equipment, you don’t expect me to say that in the
public, especially on the pages of the newspaper as it may be suicidal
to the operational tactics of the police.
“The bottom line is that less than 60
per cent of the amount being budgeted for the police are being released
to us and that is why the police is constrained on many fronts to take
its rightful place in internal security of the country.’’
No Internet facility
Despite the allocation of N7, 147,181
for Internet access charges in the 2012 police budget, a cross-section
of DPOs say the money did not in any get down to the police stations
during the course of the year.
One of the DPOs attached to the Oyo
State Police Command said, “Where are the computers? As you can see, the
laptop computer in front of me is mine. I also acquired the modem I use
for accessing the Internet from my purse. ‘’
Divisional police officers who spoke to
our correspondent said they don’t even have computers, let alone getting
allocation for connecting to the World Wide Web.
A DPO serving in one of the South
Eastern states said, “We are still battling with the acquisition of
stationeries and even biros for record keeping and very far from the use
of information and communication technology in our daily routine
activities in my division. The best technology device we still make use
of is the walkie-talkie.
“We have yet to begin communicating via
e-mails between police stations, area commands and state command
headquarters. They didn’t acquire a single official computer for us, not
to talk of the Internet subscription. If you see me working on a
computer in my office, it’s for personal purposes not official.’’
Findings by our correspondent revealed
that the inadequate funding of the police has left a huge gap in the
sourcing of intelligence. It was learnt that it is the practice in
policing globally to give informants who give privileged information
some monetary rewards. But in Nigeria, this hardly happens.
“Monetary rewards are a key to success
with many informants. In the past, we used to have some money set aside
to source information and give to informants who have knowledge of
criminal activities in our various areas of jurisdiction. But we don’t
have the opportunity of setting such funds aside for such activities
again,” a senior police officer attached to the Lagos State Police
Command Headquarters said.
Although security is top priority of
governments the world over, the funding of the Nigeria Police throws up
some posers as to the Federal Government’s commitment to ensuring the
safety of lives and property of its citizenry.
While the exact amount being received by
the Nigeria Police High Command in Abuja could not be ascertained,
findings by our correspondent revealed that a huge chunk of the monies
being appropriated in the Nigerian budget yearly goes into the payment
of wages and salaries.
For instance, in the breakdown of the
2012 Appropriation Act, out of the total allocation of N308, 474,241,153
budgeted, the sum of N298, 817, 945, 778 was meant for recurrent
expenditure, which included the payment of wages and salaries of the
over 300,000 officers and men of the Nigeria Police and general overhead
costs for running the various police commands and formations across the
country. The sum of N9, 656, 295,375 was voted for capital expenditure.
Besides, stakeholders may wonder what
happens to the yearly allocation of money for sewing uniforms and other
clothing for the rank and file of the Nigeria Police as many of them
said they purchased their uniforms from the open market. Meanwhile, in
the fiscal year ended 2012, the sum of N1.36bn was earmarked for
uniforms and other accompanied kits of policemen.
How policemen sew their own uniforms
Policemen, in chats with our
correspondent, complained that the only time they were opportune to
enjoy the luxury of being given complete sets of uniform was when they
were passing out at the police college.
A police corporal attached to the Ogun
State Police Command said he buys textile materials from the open market
and takes it to any tailor of his choice to sow for him.
He said instead of getting the other
uniform parts such as the rank, badge, customised buttons, belt, beret
and crest from the stores for free, the officials in charge of them at
the Central Stores come to their various police stations to sell them.
He said, “The only time I got a uniform
from the police was at the police college. Ï sewed my last uniform last
year after my wife got me the clothing materials from the market. I
took a sample of the old uniform with me to a tailor in my neighbourhood
and I directed him on how it should be sown.
“Other police apparels which we find
difficult to buy in the market are sold to us by policemen attached to
the Central Stores. For instance, a police beret cost between N1, 500
and N3, 000; police crest is sold for between N150 and N300; the police
badge sells for between N500 and N700.’’
It was learnt that the rank and file of
the police were entitled to uniforms, which they have to hand over to
the Police Central Stores at the termination of their service in the
police – while police officers are required to purchase theirs from the
stores.
Between Nigeria and South Africa
Meanwhile, Nigeria seems deficient on
many fronts when compared with some countries of its standing, in terms
of effective policing. For instance, South Africa, with an estimated
population of 50.58 million people and police personnel strength of 157,
518, according to information on its website, saps.gov.za, has a
police-population ratio of 1:321. But Nigeria, with a population of
about 160 million people and estimated police force strength of 370,000,
has its police-population ratio standing at 1: 432.
Yet, it appears that the South African
government still places a bigger premium on adequate funding of the
South Africa Police Service than the Nigerian government. In its 2013
budget, SA allocated the sum of R73.4bn to its police institution known
as the South Africa Police Service, which amounts to $7.39bn ($1 =
R9.92), while the Nigerian budget for the year is N311.15bn -amounting
to $1.93bn ( $1= N161).
It is interesting to note that the
difference between the yearly budgets for the police in some cities in
the United States is not significantly different from what the Nigerian
government earmarks for the entire Nigeria Police.
In Los Angeles – the most populous city
in the US State of California – the Chief of Police of the Los Angeles
Police Department administers an annual budget of $1.189bn and has over
10,354 sworn officers under his jurisdiction, according to the
information available on its website, www.lapdonline.org.
The situation is worrisome – Force PRO
This development seems to account for
why commands and formations of the police across Nigeria are always at
the mercy of state and local governments, community development
associations and some individuals, while criminals under the guise of
philanthropy also contribute to the running of police stations in the
country.
When contacted, the Acting Force Police
Public Relations Officer, Mr. Frank Mba, buttressed the findings of our
correspondent as he described the situation in many police stations in
the country as “worrisome.’’
In an electronic mail to our
correspondent’s enquiry, Mba added that the Police Force Headquarters in
Abuja had taken it upon itself to direct the attention of the Federal
Government and members of the public to the ‘’situation.’’
Mba linked part of the tribulation in
the police to insufficient funding but noted that the money budgeted for
the police was not being released by the authorities concerned.
Speaking on the poor wages and salaries
of men and officers of the police, Mba said the Inspector-General of
Police, Mr. Mohammed Abubakar, “never fails to highlight the need for
the improvement of the salaries of policemen’’ whenever he met with
relevant agencies of government whenever such opportunities exist.
He said the digitalisation of the
general mechanism of delivery of policing services in the country, being
championed by the police ‘G’ Department, was on course but added that
the efforts might not fully yield fruits due to the huge cost of
digitalisation, sheer strength and spread of the police.
He noted, “It must be understood that
budgetary allocations and actual release of funds are factors outside
the control of the Nigeria Police Force. This current administration of
the Nigeria Police Force has always underscored the many hazards of
policing in our country and has timelessly drawn the attention of
Government and the public to the worrisome conditions of police stations
and barracks.
“The Inspector-General of Police
strongly believes that only well-motivated police workforce can deliver
effective and efficient policing services. As must be stated, personnel
emoluments are exclusively determined by the FG. The Force leadership,
however, never fails to highlight the need for improvement of the
salaries of police officers and men.
“The IG, is consistently advancing this
reality with the relevant organs of government and it is hoped that
sooner than later, police officers and men will begin to enjoy better
emoluments than what obtains presently.’’
‘We have ordered for uniforms’
Reacting to the rank and file complaints
on outsourcing of police uniforms from the open market, Mba explained
that the development “will soon be a thing of the past.’’
He said the police High Command had
ordered for customised uniform materials with security features that
will make it practically impossible for external sourcing of uniforms.
He noted that adequate arrangements had also been made to ensure a
“massive availability” of the new materials to enable a gradual
replacement of the black and black uniform with the neon-blue and
camouflage ones.
To mitigate the perennial issue of
underfunding, Mba explained that the Force Headquarters was championing a
policy of direct funding of all police stations, divisions, area
commands, and state commands and other formations through a
“top-to-bottom” approach.
According to him, this initiative will
enable DPOs as well as heads of various police formations nationwide to
run the affairs of their units efficiently in a manner “devoid of all
forms of administrative bottlenecks.”
Echoing the mind of the police
leadership, Mba added, “It may be advisable for the National Assembly to
enact the Police Trust Fund Law to enable active participation of
corporate entities as well as the general public in the funding of the
police.’’
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