The recent vicious assault on policemen by hoodlums in Edo State has again drawn attention to how poorly equipped the Nigeria Police Force still is, despite official claims to the contrary. Within 48 hours, gunmen in Police uniforms and bulletproof vests, believed to be on a revenge mission, reportedly killed 10 policemen in different parts of the state. The incident brought to mind the activities of the Lawrence Anini robbery gang that killed policemen at random 18 years ago.
Equally frightening is a report detailing Police casualty figure in the past five years. According to the Minister of Police Affairs, Alaowei Broderick Bozimo, Police authorities paid compensation to families of at least 15,449 policemen (an average of 3,000 cops per year), killed in the years under review during encounters with robbers, ethnic militia and rioters. For a Police work force that rose from 135,000 in 1999 to 310,000 presently, following the Federal Government�s policy of recruiting 40,000 policemen every year, the fatality rate is quite alarming.
Just last week, the Commissioner of Police, Niger State Command, Mr. Ernest Ibhaze, confessed that his men�s inability to apprehend some bank robbers in the area was due to their lack of quality weapons and communication gadgets to alert other Police stations. The Niger State Police Command is not alone in this sad experience. Indeed, poor kitting, logistics, motivation and welfare have, for long, held down the nation�s Police operations. While virtually all old Police stations run on obsolete and hardly serviceable weaponry and communication equipment, newly constructed ones have no equipment at all. Many Police formations in rural and urban areas have been ruthlessly attacked and their few arms and ammunition carted away by hoodlums, without the Police putting up a good fight. Not long ago, a vigilante group attacked the Ughelli Police Station in Delta State with ease and seized some robbery suspects, who were later burnt at various road junctions in the town.
It was, in fact, a tale of woe when the Police rank and file, who are the most visible in core policing, opened up at the public hearing organised by the Senator David Mark-led Senate Committee on the Police. The junior ranks had alleged that Police authorities� claims of paying compensation to families of deceased policemen were often unfounded. The junior ranks said they bought their uniforms from the open market, as well as fuel and maintain operational vehicles, apparently from proceeds of extortion. Accommodation shortage is acute, while there is no allowance in lieu of it, thus compelling some policemen to sleep in disused vehicles and other inclement habitations. Worse still, the payment of Police salaries and allowances is reportedly uncertain or delayed. This makes the temptation to extort money from the public irresistible to the unscrupulous ones. Reports suggest that the Police may yet not be remunerated in line with the minimum wage structure approved for public officers four years ago. Guns and bullets are often rationed at Police Stations, while bullet proof vests are luxury items for a few.
Besides all this is the tragic fact that the policy of recruiting 40,000 policemen annually has not been matched with commensurate facilities, such as modern weaponry, communication gadgets and operational vehicles. What can, therefore, be inferred, is that the Police are still trailing behind heavily armed criminals and ethnic militias, despite official claims of improved Police welfare.
The Police would not have lost as many men as they did in Edo if the slain policemen were better equipped to defend themselves. Securing life and property is the foremost constitutional duty of the Federal Government. It cannot claim commitment to this task when those in charge of the safety of life and property are, themselves, at the mercy of criminals. Because the Police are impotent, the military is often drafted to maintain internal law and order in a teething democracy as Nigeria�s.
The FG should specially empower the Police to perform by making generous fiscal provisions for them in the 2005 budget. It is also the responsibility of the Police High Command to ensure that improved budget for the Police translates to better kitting and welfare for the officers and rank and file.
