Juliana Francis, Head of the Crime Desk at New Telegraph Newspapers who has covered the Police beat for about 18 years, was the lead discussant at a webinar organized by PlatformAfrica on the state of the Nigeria Police on Saturday. She offers insights on the rot in the Police Force over the years and suggests urgent steps for reformation being demanded by the #ENDSARS protesters.
Policing in Nigeria has been fairly all right, especially since the sector lacks so many things. The IRT and even the presently scandalised SARS have achieved great results. There is, however, a need for a major overhauling and improvement.
The Nigerian Police can do better and cause less human rights violation if all units can focus on their beats and job descriptions. Our Mobile policemen, who are supposed to be an elite force and riot fighters, have all become guards to financial institutions, influential and rich Nigerians. I understand that the Iya-Loja general has over 20 Mobile policemen guarding her.
The Nigerian Police is bedevilled by poverty and the innate greed of the personnel, who want to better their lots at whatever cost, including framing or setting someone up or taking a life.
How SARS derailed from the original mandate
Take the SARS unit for instance; it has no business chasing after cyber fraudsters when we have the Police Special Fraud Unit. But pecuniary desires and a lackadaisical government are parts of the problems of the police in Nigeria.
The name, SARS, itself has already explained what the unit was created to do. It is expected to respond to robbery attacks, go to scenes of weapon-related crimes, carry out rescue operations, especially during kidnapping, and carry out special operations involving high-profile crime and criminals, amongst others.
Interestingly, I have been covering the police beat for 18 years and I must confess that I met it in this same sorry state. So, identifying a derailment point is impossible for me. But you can say and I will agree that when the killings became glaring, and the discovery that even ladies are being tortured.
When I was a young reporter, I remembered a lady being arrested and tortured by Raiders/SARS. She was arrested on proxy. They couldn’t get her boyfriend, so they arrested her. Her denial of not knowing the man was an armed robber fell on deaf ears. To get her to ‘confess to the truth,’ a bottle was inserted into her vagina. It was horrible.
These days, some policemen even go about with POS and others march people, who they are supposed to protect, to ATM galleries at gunpoint to empty their bank accounts.
The Force is bedevilled by corruption, that the mere thought of salvaging it makes one feel despair, with the solution appearing impossible. Why? It is because it entails a whole lot of cleansing and it’s not going to be a dash, but a marathon. The rot has been growing and gathering for years. There’s no quick solution.
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However, suffice to say that each year; the situation worsens, with subsequent IGs and presidents not taking decisive steps toward seeking solutions to these challenges.
Why our Police excel during overseas training and not at home
Almost 95 per cent of the time, when our Policemen go overseas for training, they top their classes. Frequent interactions and interrogations have revealed that these men excel overseas because everything needed to excel, stand out and achieve the best results have been placed at their disposal.
They don’t have to worry and fret on how to buy uniforms, boots, bullets, belts, fuel patrol vans, buy patrol van tyres, statement papers and other items needed to carry out the day to day activities of running a police station or formation.
All he or she needs to do is just to focus on his policing job; it can’t and shouldn’t be too difficult for him. He has been trained to be a policeman. He is also given an allowance and thus, he doesn’t have to worry about his nuclear and extended family’s needs. There are no distractions.
This naturally means that if the police in Nigeria are provided with the necessary tools, they’ll do better. But of course, our value system is also a problem, which we as people need to work on.
Most people go outside the country and behave themselves, knowing they are being watched, but immediately their flight lands at the Murtala Mohammed Airport; the evil spirit of corruption and misdemeanour falls on them. Many of them see abnormal practices as the norm. Tragic really.
Suspects pay for bail, complainants fund their investigations
Bail is free in Nigeria is a new mantra that came into the Nigeria Policing. It’s a proof the authority understands that collecting money for bail is wrong and came up with the mantra to pacify Nigerians, who have often complained of paying for bail.
Again, the police hierarchy and government are aware that suspects pay for bail and that complainants fund their investigations and even fund transportation for the police to arrest a suspect. This becomes a challenge for Nigerians, making it difficult for them to go or trust the justice system. Obviously, the scenario creates a situation whereby justice goes to the highest spender; whether complainant or suspect.
It is interesting to note that bail, which started in police stations, has spiled into streets and expressways. These days, everywhere that a policeman flags a vehicle or stops someone based on instinct, the person must part with some money. Some, even without mincing words, ask, “How much do you have to bail yourself?”
Sadly, most lawyers allow them to get away with this, even knowing the law.
This is why I have always argued that the corruption called extortion, started from police stations and spiled into other police jurisdictions. It is important to stop payment of bail right from these police stations.
Most Nigerians, especially the youth, have accepted payment for bail as the norm.
Listen to one speaks: “I was arrested at Palm Grove road by some policemen and I had to bail myself right there on the road.”
Again, money for bail was rooted in police stations needing materials to run the station and disinfect police cells. Suspects and complainants have to write statements and suspects also have to sign bail bonds before they could be released.
The police stations have to buy these items. Police used to have a printing press, but that’s gone with the wind. Another issue for another discussion; maintenance culture.
Before, bail money was insignificant, but these days, some policemen demand as much as N1million or N500, 000. It has been so high that so many people have noticed and are now screaming blue murder. The Police have taken enough from the people to have been noticed. They can no longer keep silent in the face of extortion, tyranny, oppression and other rights violations.
It’s important to mention, without those aforementioned items, you can’t run a police station and the IG knows this. But of course, most IGs continue to play the ostrich.
It has become necessary for every one of us to begin to ask; how much is the police budget and how much is being given to state commands, area commands, police stations and police posts.
Extrajudicial killings have become normal
I did a story on extrajudicial killings of detainees by SARS Operatives, where I tried to show the pattern of the crime, highlighting the fact that SARS in every state is involved in killing suspects and non-suspects, suspected robbers and those, not armed robbers.
It was not a localised crime, but was more of a unit problem and overtime; it has become acceptable among those working in those units.
If you’re rich, you become a target. You could be killed and your property shared. You don’t even need to commit any crime. Being rich is a crime. It is still going on, only now, it has become mobile money transfer, building and landed property. The recommendation is still reformation.
Factors encouraging corruption and what to do curb it
Funding still remains the best way of checking police impunity and human rights violations. Policemen should be paid a better salary and allowances. Senior policemen should stop demanding and collecting returns from their juniors.
Most senior policemen, when they are close to retirement, fix their police boys/loyalties in choice positions, where they perceive that he would be receiving better bribes.
After retirement, they still call on these boys to give them returns. This is a burden on these policemen, coupled with their other responsibilities. They do outrageous things to meet up with these demands.
Senior policemen should also stop collecting money for promotion and for posting.
Anyone policeman found collecting money from complainant or suspect, under whatever guise should be dismissed immediately; not pardoned or transferred. The more we reduced the bag eggs in the system, the better.
Politicians, traditional rulers should stop interfering with recruitment processes. This is where the problem begins. Every recruit should be taken on merit.
It’s not a bad idea if prospective police recruits are investigated and vetted.
Any policeman that demands sex from a suspect’s girlfriend or wife as a means for bail should be dismissed.
Any policeman that tortures a suspect or uses fear factor to extort money should be dismissed.
The cost of governance is too much. The country is so poor, yet so much is spent on governance. Let the salaries of our lawmaker be slashed and channelled towards the reformation of the police. Security of lives and property should be paramount.
Police reformation is a gradual process, not a sprint race. But it’s also going to be capital intensive.
Most importantly, our country should embrace scientific policing, which has to do with forensic analysis and DNA. This is the path most police globally are walking.
We shouldn’t be left behind. Scientific policing will not only eliminate torture but will also check the stupidity and madness of arresting people before frantically searching for evidence to pin on them. The normal policing practice is to arrest someone after you have evidence against him/her.