FYI ONLY
Summary Of Findings And Recommendations
1.1.1 Introduction
1.1.3 In its work the CSO Panel paid more attention to salient issues that may not necessarily require a great deal of money before they can be addressed, but are often ignored in the work of government committees on Police reform. However, the CSO Panel recognizes the impact of material deficiencies on the effectiveness of the NPF and aligns with reports of government committees on such issues.
1.2.1 Methodology
The Panel used a variety of complementary methodological approaches in carrying out its functions. These were: review of extant literature, which helped it to properly situate its work and enrich its understanding of the issues at play; call for memoranda to enable members of the public who wanted to contribute to work of the Panel to send written presentations; organisation of public hearings in the six geo-political zones of Nigeria and the Federal Capital which provided an opportunity for members of the public to make presentations in person; bilateral interaction with key actors in the field; and a validation workshop where the key findings of the CSO Panel were presented to civil society representatives. The effective combination of these approaches enhanced the Panel’s appreciation of the issues involved in its work and placed it in a privileged position to offer the recommendations contained in this report.
Summary of Findings and Recommendations
1.3.1 Factors Affecting Effective Performance by the NPF
The factors affecting police performance that were identified by the panel include inadequate articulation of the NPF’s mission, legal framework, specialization of functions, performance appraisal system, duplication of policing agencies, weak oversight agencies and corruption.
1.3.2 Mission of the Police
The Panel found the mission statement of the NPF as provided in Section 4 of the Police Act inadequate in capturing the expectation of the new kind of police Nigeria requires in the context of its disheartening experience of police inefficiency and brutality and hope for a democratic society of security and liberty. In proposing a new mission statement for the NPF the CSO Panel is of the view that focus should be on modelling a new police service that works in partnership with the communities it serves.
1.3.3 Recommendations
The CSO Panel found the constitutional and statutory framework under which the NPF operates to be a significant challenge to the effective performance of its functions: Sections 214-216 create the NPF, while the Police Act provides for its organisation, discipline, powers and duties. The Panel identified two issues in the legal framework of the NPF: lack of operational autonomy, which has led to politicization and lack of professionalism in the NPF, and an opaque leadership appointment procedure, which can rob the NPF of the services of its most competent officers at leadership levels.
1.3.5 Recommendations
The Panel found the NPF structured in a way that over-centralises its operations. Even though the NPF has a five-tier command structure (Headquarter, Zonal, State, Area and Divisional Commands), too many decisions begin and end on the desk of the IGP. Similarly, although the NPF has seven Deputy Inspectors-General (DIGs) who function as the heads of departments at headquarters and should lighten the load on the IGP, the Panel found that apart from adding to the unwieldy nature of NPF structure, the DIGs have little real work to do. Furthermore, despite an outward show of unity, the current DIG structure does not help stability in the NPF, as all the DIGs see themselves as IGPs in waiting and spend their time plotting for a change in the leadership of the NPF, since the IGP has no security of tenure.
1.3.7 Recommendations
The CSO Panel found that lack of specialization has robbed the NPF of the capacity to develop its personnel to become experts in different fields of policing, a gap which impacts its ability to solve complex crimes. With the exception of a few specialists such as medical doctors and veterinarians, the CSO Panel found that upon enlistment, all officers are made to carry out all duties, irrespective of their areas of specialization, and are moved around at will from one duty post and function to another, without prior training or preparation. The Panel observed that the lack of career trajectory in the NPF has turned most police officers in Nigeria into ‘jacks-of-all-trades’ who in the end, are not able to master any.
1.3.9 Recommendations
The Panel found a government penchant for the creation of agencies (such as the EFCC, ICPC, FRSC, NAPTIP and NDLEA) that fragment and duplicate police functions, and are inimical to improving the effectiveness of NPF because they not only deprive the NPF of badly needed material resources, but also deplete its pool of human resources. Some of these agencies, such as the EFCC, still draw their leadership and operational personnel from the NPF.
1.3.11 Recommendation
The government should establish an inter-agency committee for the harmonization of the functions of all agencies performing policing and internal security functions in Nigeria with a view to:
The Panel found no justification for the existence of the Ministry of Police Affairs (MoPA) and the Police Service Commission (PSC) as separate bodies as presently structured, organized and managed. The MoPA maintains a huge bureaucracy for the purpose of either duplicating functions already performed or statutorily assigned to the NPF or the Police Service Commission (PSC). The PSC on its part has been dismissed as nothing more than “a dismal chronicle of rubber-stamping decisions taken by the police”.[2] Participants at the public hearings also criticised the lack of response to (or even acknowledgement of) complaints about police misconduct sent to the PSC. At the same time, concern was expressed about the unclear constitutional area in which not only agencies such as the EFCC, ICPC, FRSC, NAPTIP, NDLEA and NSCDC are operating, but the legal vacuum in which a variety of community-based security initiatives are operating, and their often shaky adherence to human rights and due process standards.
1.3.13 Recommendations
The Panel found that the NPF does not take assessment of its officers’ performance seriously. On paper, the appraisal system of the NPF looks impressive, as it covers critical issues such as discipline, knowledge of the job and environment, attitude to work and performance, relationship with colleagues and superiors and more importantly, relationship with members of the public. However, the problem is in the application process, which is not prioritized, rigorously applied or transparent. In the words of a police officer, “APER (Annual Performance Evaluation Report) is there for the sake of being there. What the police do is eye service. Nobody actually looks at the APER.”
1.3.15 Recommendations
Despite the widespread belief that it is illegal for police officers to form any kind of trade union or professional association, the Panel could not find any legislation that supports such a conclusion. Rather, section 40 of the Constitution guarantees the right to freedom of association and specifically provides that “Every person shall be entitled to assemble freely and associate with other persons, and in particular he may form or belong to any political party, trade union or any other association for the protection of his interests”. The Panel found the tendency of government to conflate the right to associate with the inevitability of strikes as not only restrictive, but also likely to guarantee a situation in which grievances are bottled up until they explode in a manner that is not only detrimental to effective performance of police duties but also may affect national security.
1.3.17 Recommendation
Having regard to the rights guaranteed by section 40 of the Constitution, the CSO Panel recommends that police officers should be encouraged and permitted to form a Police Association for the purpose of collective bargaining, but be barred from using the strike option in pressing their concerns or demands for better conditions of service.
1.3.18 Police Corruption
In spite of the efforts of the current IGP to deal with corruption in the NPF by dismantling road blocks and dismissing police officers caught in corrupt acts, the CSO Panel found that corruption is still the number one impediment to the effective performance of police functions in Nigeria and a cancer that has spread to every facet of the NPF. The Panel recognised that corruption has spread throughout Nigerian society but rejected the suggestion that this in any way excuses or justifies corruption in the NPF.
1.3.19 Recommendations
The leadership of the NPF should:
The major challenges to training and manpower development in the NPF as identified by the Panel include its restrictive regulatory framework, the content of the training curriculum, the state of training institutions and infrastructure, the quality of trainers and the culture and commitment of trainees.
1.4.2 Regulatory Framework
The Panel found the current regulatory framework in the Police Act (the Act), under which the training and development of the NPF is subsumed, to be a major obstacle to effective training and development. One drawback is that the time prescribed for training in the Act, 3-6 months, is too short.[3] Another is that fixing the length and content of training for police officers under the Act means that the police are unable to adapt to changing situations and requirements without undergoing a cumbersome legislative amendment process.
1.4.3 Recommendations
The Panel found the NPF training curriculum to be severely undeveloped, with critical gaps in areas that are vital to effective policing in a modern democracy, such as crime scene management, forensics, special victims, human rights and information technology. In particular the Panel is of the view that the mass recruitment drive of 2000-2004 where over 40,000 new recruits joined the NPF each year had a devastating impact on the quality of training in the NPF. One, this heavy intake of fresh recruits over-burdened already strained training facilities and two, the educational capacity and ethics of these recruits were extremely doubtful.
1.4.5 Recommendations
The Panel found the state of training institutions and facilities available for police training in varying states of dilapidation and decay. With the gruelling and dehumanizing conditions to which they are exposed, it is hardly surprising that the police officers who ‘graduate’ from these training institutions have not just failed to learn the skills they need for effective policing, they have also become brutalized and ready to treat the public whom they are meant to protect with unnecessary harshness and cruelty.
1.4.7 Recommendations
1.5.1 Causes of Collapse of Public Confidence in the NPF
The CSO Panel identified general and specific causes of the collapse of public confidence in the NPF to include colonial origin of the NPF and the failure of post-independent political leaders to transform the NPF from a colonial occupation force to a service oriented and accountable public institution; the character of the Nigerian state/government, which tends privilege coercion of the citizens rather than consultation, cooperation and drawing its authority from the people; highly centralized nature of the NPF with limited powers to its local commands and units to engage communities and factor in their priorities in the delivery of policing services; poor police response to citizens in distress and performance in crime control; police egregious conduct on and off duty; inefficiency in the NPF’s utilization of limited resources available to it and poor public presentation and corruption.
1.5.2 Police Conduct On and Off Duty
The Panel was overwhelmed by public complaints against police incivility, insensitivity, cruelty and gross abuse of human rights which were identified as major reasons why the public have low confidence in the NPF. Cases of abuse of human rights by the NPF presented to the Panel ranged from arbitrary arrest and detention, torture with all kinds of implements, maiming of suspects in detention, to denial of medical assistance and extra-judicial execution. In one egregious case recounted to the Panel, the suspect was shot and left to die in the bush but was saved by the intervention of villagers. The Panel noted that these abuses continue to occur on a significant scale because of weak internal and external oversight mechanisms for holding the police accountable for abuse of human rights and other acts of misconduct.
1.5.3 Recommendations
1.5.4 Poor Public Presentation of the Police
Poor public presentation of the NPF and its members was identified as another major cause of lack of public confidence on the police. The participants stressed that the unkempt and unfit appearance of police officers, the shabby and often stinking police stations, and the filthy and dilapidated police barracks have created a deep contempt for the police in the minds of the public. Furthermore, obsequious greetings such as “Your boys are here Sir!” to motorists in expensive cars at checkpoints in solicitation of tips instead of doing their work in a professional manner make police officers look like beggars.
1.5.5 Recommendations
Another cause of low public confidence in the NPF which came out strongly during the public hearings of the CSO Panel was police insensitivity to the plight of victims of gender crimes such as domestic violence and rape. Not only do the police ridicule and trivialize cases of domestic violence and rape reported to them, they go further and blame the victims for their victimization. The result is a very low rate of reporting what are known as gender crimes. The Panel found that police personnel lack the knowledge and skills to respond sensitively to gender crimes or deal with vulnerable groups such as children or persons with disabilities as they have received no training in policing such groups.
1.6.2 Recommendations
Other issues critical to improving police effectiveness and public confidence in the NPF identified by the CSO Panel include: name and orientation of the police, funding of the police, reward and recognition for the police, the issue of state police, community policing, police accommodation, policing of elections and the design of police stations.
1.7.2 The Call for State Police
The CSO Panel noted that previous government Committees on police reform rejected calls for State police, giving reasons such as that local police forces were misused by politicians in the past, or will lead to the break-up of Nigeria in the future. However, the Panel considered the argument as a mere mantra repeated by those who wish to avoid the hard thinking that the issue really requires. The CSO Panel is of the view that it is essential for Nigeria to commence a much more informed debate on the subject, so that a rational and measured decision can be taken, which will hopefully address the concerns raised by those opposed to state police. The Panel also considers that while the experiences of the past are important, they should be used as guides, rather than all-time barriers to the future establishment, composition, operations or control of State police in Nigeria.
1.7.3 Recommendations
The Panel found the current state of funding the NPF challenging at different levels, including low budgetary allocation, incomplete release of budgeted funds and late release of funds, all of which make planning in the NPF a difficult enterprise. However, the Panel found most troubling the practice of donation of funds and equipment to the NPF by state, local governments and private bodies, which are not captured in the annual budget of the NPF and often end up fuelling corruption in the police. The Panel believes that regulation of these complementary sources of funding to the police will not only enable a credible assessment of whether the NPF is indeed underfunded but also encourage better utilization of the donated resources and check the risk of politicization and privatization of the police, which such donations could induce.
1.7.5 Recommendations
1.7.6 Reward and Recognition in the NPF
The Panel notes that there is no system of rewarding police officers for outstanding community service and that frontline police officers hardly receive recognition and commendation from the government or the public for the important work they do, often at the risk of their own lives. The Panel concludes that this type of officer needs to be recognized and rewarded for their sense of duty instead of the current practice of mostly restricting national awards to the leadership of the NPF.
1.7.7 Recommendations
1.7.9 Model Police Station
Finally, the Panel notes that policing is a local matter and that citizens’ enduring perception of the NPF and willingness to make use of the formal criminal justice system in resolving disputes is often based on how they or people they know are treated at police stations when they go to report crime or call for help. To change peoples’ experience and perception of the NPF for the better, police reform programs need to concentrate on the local level of policing where it matters most. It is therefore urgently necessary for the government to commit to supporting a pilot program of comprehensive remodelling of police stations in Nigeria as to architectural designs, physical buildings, availability of facilities, strategies and processes that improve police services at the police station.
1.7.10 Recommendations
The CSO Panel believes that if the recommendations of this report are implemented together with those of the government Committee, the NPF will in the near future become more effective, accountable and service oriented. The Panel invites the reader to read the full report.
[3] Section 103 of the Nigerian Police Act Cap 359, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 1990
[4] The current training curriculum is divided into the following main areas of police duties: (i) police administration, (ii) police investigation and intelligence duties, (iii) traffic duties, (iv) legal duties, (v) liberal studies and (vi) field studies.
[5] The Yusufu Panel Report 2008 estimated that it would cost N19, 951,777,126.12 to refurbish police training institutions.
Summary Of Findings And Recommendations
1.1.1 Introduction
Official debates about police
reform in Nigeria and committees established by successive governments
to facilitate such discussions and recommendations of measures for
implementation have mostly been dominated by people with a security
background who view such assignments as their exclusive preserve. As a
result, their reports have often focussed on increasing policing
capacity in the areas of personnel strength, materials for work and
welfare; as though once these are right, the NPF will be super effective
and efficient. While not belittling the significant difference a
properly resourced NPF can make in addressing the safety and security
challenges currently confronting Nigeria, experience from other
jurisdictions has shown that it requires more than this for the police
to win the confidence of the people and be effective in carrying out
their functions.[1] Community support and participation are critical to
improving police performance, and if the people are not consulted and
their priorities factored into the reform process, their support for
reform programs cannot be guaranteed.
1.1.2 It was with this in mind, that when the Federal Government
inaugurated another Committee on reform of the NPF in February 2012 and
appeared to be following the same procedure as in the past, civil
society groups working on police reform in Nigeria felt they should do
more than send another round of memoranda. They decided to set up a
parallel but complementary Civil Society Panel on Police Reform in
Nigeria (CSO Panel). Mrs Ayo Obe chaired the six-person Panel whose
other members were Mrs Josephine Effah-Chukwuma, Mr. Sampson Itodo, Dr.
Abubakar Mu’azu, Ms Ayisha Osori, and Dr. Smart Out. Innocent Chukwuma
provided technical advice; Chinedu Nwagu served as the Secretary and
Okechukwu Nwanguma served as the CSO liaison officer.1.1.3 In its work the CSO Panel paid more attention to salient issues that may not necessarily require a great deal of money before they can be addressed, but are often ignored in the work of government committees on Police reform. However, the CSO Panel recognizes the impact of material deficiencies on the effectiveness of the NPF and aligns with reports of government committees on such issues.
1.2.1 Methodology
The Panel used a variety of complementary methodological approaches in carrying out its functions. These were: review of extant literature, which helped it to properly situate its work and enrich its understanding of the issues at play; call for memoranda to enable members of the public who wanted to contribute to work of the Panel to send written presentations; organisation of public hearings in the six geo-political zones of Nigeria and the Federal Capital which provided an opportunity for members of the public to make presentations in person; bilateral interaction with key actors in the field; and a validation workshop where the key findings of the CSO Panel were presented to civil society representatives. The effective combination of these approaches enhanced the Panel’s appreciation of the issues involved in its work and placed it in a privileged position to offer the recommendations contained in this report.
Summary of Findings and Recommendations
1.3.1 Factors Affecting Effective Performance by the NPF
The factors affecting police performance that were identified by the panel include inadequate articulation of the NPF’s mission, legal framework, specialization of functions, performance appraisal system, duplication of policing agencies, weak oversight agencies and corruption.
1.3.2 Mission of the Police
The Panel found the mission statement of the NPF as provided in Section 4 of the Police Act inadequate in capturing the expectation of the new kind of police Nigeria requires in the context of its disheartening experience of police inefficiency and brutality and hope for a democratic society of security and liberty. In proposing a new mission statement for the NPF the CSO Panel is of the view that focus should be on modelling a new police service that works in partnership with the communities it serves.
1.3.3 Recommendations
- The National Assembly should amend Section 4 of the Police Act to incorporate language that emphasizes that the Nigeria Police is a service organisation that respects human rights, works in partnership with the community and is impartial before the law in carrying out its functions of ensuring the security of persons and property, detecting, investigating and activating the prosecution of offences.
- The Nigeria Police Force should embark on a strategic planning exercise with a view to articulating operational vision and mission statements consistent with the values of a civil agency and the protection of the fundamental rights guaranteed in the Constitution of Nigeria in discharging its functions.
The CSO Panel found the constitutional and statutory framework under which the NPF operates to be a significant challenge to the effective performance of its functions: Sections 214-216 create the NPF, while the Police Act provides for its organisation, discipline, powers and duties. The Panel identified two issues in the legal framework of the NPF: lack of operational autonomy, which has led to politicization and lack of professionalism in the NPF, and an opaque leadership appointment procedure, which can rob the NPF of the services of its most competent officers at leadership levels.
1.3.5 Recommendations
- Amend Section 215(3) of the Constitution and sections 9(4, 5) and 10(1, 2) of the Police Act to restrict the role of the President or Minister of Government acting on his behalf to issuing only lawful policy directives, not operational directives, to the NPF. The amendment should state clearly and unambiguously that operational control of the NPF and its department/units rests with the IGP.
- Sections 215(1) and 216(2) of the Constitution should be amended as part of the present constitutional reform process to:
- Provide for a competitive and transparent process to be followed in the appointment of an IGP if the position becomes vacant, including an open application process, screening of applicants, Senate hearing and confirmation of the most competent person for the job;
- Specify relevant competences and qualifications that must be met by anybody vying for the position of IGP and other senior command positions in the NPF, including academic qualifications and relevant professional and management experience;
- Guarantee security of tenure for the IGP with one term limit of five years;
- Stipulate processes that should be followed for an IGP to be removed from office, including a public hearing by the Senate.
The Panel found the NPF structured in a way that over-centralises its operations. Even though the NPF has a five-tier command structure (Headquarter, Zonal, State, Area and Divisional Commands), too many decisions begin and end on the desk of the IGP. Similarly, although the NPF has seven Deputy Inspectors-General (DIGs) who function as the heads of departments at headquarters and should lighten the load on the IGP, the Panel found that apart from adding to the unwieldy nature of NPF structure, the DIGs have little real work to do. Furthermore, despite an outward show of unity, the current DIG structure does not help stability in the NPF, as all the DIGs see themselves as IGPs in waiting and spend their time plotting for a change in the leadership of the NPF, since the IGP has no security of tenure.
1.3.7 Recommendations
- The NPF structure should be decentralized and powers and resources devolved to Zonal, State, Area and Divisional Commands to enable them effectively respond to the priority safety and security needs of their jurisdictions.
- The seven DIG structure should be abolished, and the IGP should have just one DIG who should serve as his second in command.
- The headquarter departments should be headed by AIGs in the same way as Zonal Commands.
The CSO Panel found that lack of specialization has robbed the NPF of the capacity to develop its personnel to become experts in different fields of policing, a gap which impacts its ability to solve complex crimes. With the exception of a few specialists such as medical doctors and veterinarians, the CSO Panel found that upon enlistment, all officers are made to carry out all duties, irrespective of their areas of specialization, and are moved around at will from one duty post and function to another, without prior training or preparation. The Panel observed that the lack of career trajectory in the NPF has turned most police officers in Nigeria into ‘jacks-of-all-trades’ who in the end, are not able to master any.
1.3.9 Recommendations
- The ‘general duty policy’ should be abolished. Every police officer should be given a time line of five years to specialize after recruitment, be a promotable officer or go home.
- Diverse professionals such as criminologists, psychologists, sociologists, lawyers, doctors, pathologists and others should be recruited as police officers and allowed to practice their professions within the police service, and be promotable in their areas of expertise as is done in services such as the military.
The Panel found a government penchant for the creation of agencies (such as the EFCC, ICPC, FRSC, NAPTIP and NDLEA) that fragment and duplicate police functions, and are inimical to improving the effectiveness of NPF because they not only deprive the NPF of badly needed material resources, but also deplete its pool of human resources. Some of these agencies, such as the EFCC, still draw their leadership and operational personnel from the NPF.
1.3.11 Recommendation
The government should establish an inter-agency committee for the harmonization of the functions of all agencies performing policing and internal security functions in Nigeria with a view to:
- Determining those that should be merged with the NPF;
- Delineating functions where merger is not a feasible option;
- Working out, from leadership to operational level, arrangements to coordinate activities that will ensure that resources are properly shared, and that inter-agency cooperation in planning and executing safety and security functions is enhanced.
The Panel found no justification for the existence of the Ministry of Police Affairs (MoPA) and the Police Service Commission (PSC) as separate bodies as presently structured, organized and managed. The MoPA maintains a huge bureaucracy for the purpose of either duplicating functions already performed or statutorily assigned to the NPF or the Police Service Commission (PSC). The PSC on its part has been dismissed as nothing more than “a dismal chronicle of rubber-stamping decisions taken by the police”.[2] Participants at the public hearings also criticised the lack of response to (or even acknowledgement of) complaints about police misconduct sent to the PSC. At the same time, concern was expressed about the unclear constitutional area in which not only agencies such as the EFCC, ICPC, FRSC, NAPTIP, NDLEA and NSCDC are operating, but the legal vacuum in which a variety of community-based security initiatives are operating, and their often shaky adherence to human rights and due process standards.
1.3.13 Recommendations
- The Ministry of Police Affairs should be restructured and renamed Ministry of Public Safety and Security to coordinate the activities of government in the field of public security and discontinue the present practice of replicating the bureaucracies of NPF and PSC. It should also be charged with providing a regulatory framework for community initiatives on crime prevention and creating an incentive regime to ensure that they comply with the law and eschew human rights abuses in carrying out their functions in rural areas or inner city communities not often covered by police patrols.
- The PSC should be strengthened and provided with adequate resources to establish its presence across the country, starting at the level of Nigeria’s geo-political zones, and expanding to states and local governments as funds and resources permit.
- The PSC should establish a department responsible for investigation of public complaints against the police (particularly cases of corruption, rape, torture and extrajudicial killing) and discontinue sending such petitions back to the police for investigation.
- The process of appointing the chairperson and members of the PSC should be transparent and rigorous in order to ensure that only qualified persons are appointed to actualise its enormous potentials as a civilian oversight body on police in Nigeria.
The Panel found that the NPF does not take assessment of its officers’ performance seriously. On paper, the appraisal system of the NPF looks impressive, as it covers critical issues such as discipline, knowledge of the job and environment, attitude to work and performance, relationship with colleagues and superiors and more importantly, relationship with members of the public. However, the problem is in the application process, which is not prioritized, rigorously applied or transparent. In the words of a police officer, “APER (Annual Performance Evaluation Report) is there for the sake of being there. What the police do is eye service. Nobody actually looks at the APER.”
1.3.15 Recommendations
- The IGP should set up a committee to review the performance appraisal system in the NPF with a view to proposing a new and functional system, which should then be implemented and stringently applied. The committee should include independent experts in in the field of performance management.
- A task-based system of appraisal which focuses on performance in given tasks, instead of the current blind filling of forms by superiors, should be adopted to create objective and transparent criteria for the assessment of police officers.
- The APER template should be revised to provide for police officers being appraised to also score themselves on the issues on which their supervisors are appraising them. The expected differential in scores will provide opportunity for the supervisors and subordinates to discuss the appraisal process and build confidence in it.
Despite the widespread belief that it is illegal for police officers to form any kind of trade union or professional association, the Panel could not find any legislation that supports such a conclusion. Rather, section 40 of the Constitution guarantees the right to freedom of association and specifically provides that “Every person shall be entitled to assemble freely and associate with other persons, and in particular he may form or belong to any political party, trade union or any other association for the protection of his interests”. The Panel found the tendency of government to conflate the right to associate with the inevitability of strikes as not only restrictive, but also likely to guarantee a situation in which grievances are bottled up until they explode in a manner that is not only detrimental to effective performance of police duties but also may affect national security.
1.3.17 Recommendation
Having regard to the rights guaranteed by section 40 of the Constitution, the CSO Panel recommends that police officers should be encouraged and permitted to form a Police Association for the purpose of collective bargaining, but be barred from using the strike option in pressing their concerns or demands for better conditions of service.
1.3.18 Police Corruption
In spite of the efforts of the current IGP to deal with corruption in the NPF by dismantling road blocks and dismissing police officers caught in corrupt acts, the CSO Panel found that corruption is still the number one impediment to the effective performance of police functions in Nigeria and a cancer that has spread to every facet of the NPF. The Panel recognised that corruption has spread throughout Nigerian society but rejected the suggestion that this in any way excuses or justifies corruption in the NPF.
1.3.19 Recommendations
The leadership of the NPF should:
- Sustain the abolition of police roadblocks and checkpoints on the highways.
- Create a functional and easy-to-use database of police officers in Nigeria to enhance personal performance monitoring and help expose erring officers to the public.
- Resuscitate the police X-Squad in all police commands and formations across Nigeria, and provide a line budget for their work.
- Work with civil society groups to introduce the use of new media technologies to map police corruption in Nigeria and deploy more officers from X-Squad to corruption hotspots as identified in the mapping using geographic positioning system (GPS) technology.
The major challenges to training and manpower development in the NPF as identified by the Panel include its restrictive regulatory framework, the content of the training curriculum, the state of training institutions and infrastructure, the quality of trainers and the culture and commitment of trainees.
1.4.2 Regulatory Framework
The Panel found the current regulatory framework in the Police Act (the Act), under which the training and development of the NPF is subsumed, to be a major obstacle to effective training and development. One drawback is that the time prescribed for training in the Act, 3-6 months, is too short.[3] Another is that fixing the length and content of training for police officers under the Act means that the police are unable to adapt to changing situations and requirements without undergoing a cumbersome legislative amendment process.
1.4.3 Recommendations
- The National Assembly should amend the Police Act to expunge section 103 of the Police Act and remove provisions that regulate the period and content of police training from the Act.
- The power to revise the duration and content of police training should be conferred on the IGP who may, in consultation with police oversight agencies, issue fresh training regulations from time to time but no less often than once every five years
- Provisions in the Act which discriminate against women police officers by directly or indirectly excluding them from certain aspects or types of training, such as Section 123 of the Police Act, are unconstitutional and should be repealed or amended. Other provisions, such as section 121 of the Act, must not be interpreted as limiting the role of women police officers.
The Panel found the NPF training curriculum to be severely undeveloped, with critical gaps in areas that are vital to effective policing in a modern democracy, such as crime scene management, forensics, special victims, human rights and information technology. In particular the Panel is of the view that the mass recruitment drive of 2000-2004 where over 40,000 new recruits joined the NPF each year had a devastating impact on the quality of training in the NPF. One, this heavy intake of fresh recruits over-burdened already strained training facilities and two, the educational capacity and ethics of these recruits were extremely doubtful.
1.4.5 Recommendations
- The training curriculum of the police should be reviewed to include new areas of training and specialty, such as crime scene management, forensic science, special victims, human rights, police prosecution, professional ethics and values, policing elections, information technology and public order policing.
- Instead of a single training manual that covers the entire NPF curriculum,[4] each area of training outlined above should be developed individually with separate curricula, manuals and levels of specialization or degrees of complexity.
- The recruitment exercise should be transparent, rigorous and should include psychological tests and the profiling of recruits to determine their state of mind and moral uprightness.
The Panel found the state of training institutions and facilities available for police training in varying states of dilapidation and decay. With the gruelling and dehumanizing conditions to which they are exposed, it is hardly surprising that the police officers who ‘graduate’ from these training institutions have not just failed to learn the skills they need for effective policing, they have also become brutalized and ready to treat the public whom they are meant to protect with unnecessary harshness and cruelty.
1.4.7 Recommendations
- All police colleges and training institutions in Nigeria should be refurbished and modernised to ensure that basic infrastructure such as lecture halls, student accommodation and teacher residences, cafeterias, running water, constant electricity, clinics, recreational and other facilities are in provided. In addition, up to date equipment, tools, libraries, laboratories and physical training facilities must be provided.[5]
- All training institutions should be audited every 5 years to ensure the facilities do not get run down and that they are maintained on a continuous basis.
- Adequate training kits for the police must be provided and laboratories, gymnasiums, libraries, computer laboratories, shooting galleries and weaponry rooms must be well equipped to ensure that the police are familiar with these tools and skilled in handling them.
1.5.1 Causes of Collapse of Public Confidence in the NPF
The CSO Panel identified general and specific causes of the collapse of public confidence in the NPF to include colonial origin of the NPF and the failure of post-independent political leaders to transform the NPF from a colonial occupation force to a service oriented and accountable public institution; the character of the Nigerian state/government, which tends privilege coercion of the citizens rather than consultation, cooperation and drawing its authority from the people; highly centralized nature of the NPF with limited powers to its local commands and units to engage communities and factor in their priorities in the delivery of policing services; poor police response to citizens in distress and performance in crime control; police egregious conduct on and off duty; inefficiency in the NPF’s utilization of limited resources available to it and poor public presentation and corruption.
1.5.2 Police Conduct On and Off Duty
The Panel was overwhelmed by public complaints against police incivility, insensitivity, cruelty and gross abuse of human rights which were identified as major reasons why the public have low confidence in the NPF. Cases of abuse of human rights by the NPF presented to the Panel ranged from arbitrary arrest and detention, torture with all kinds of implements, maiming of suspects in detention, to denial of medical assistance and extra-judicial execution. In one egregious case recounted to the Panel, the suspect was shot and left to die in the bush but was saved by the intervention of villagers. The Panel noted that these abuses continue to occur on a significant scale because of weak internal and external oversight mechanisms for holding the police accountable for abuse of human rights and other acts of misconduct.
1.5.3 Recommendations
- Respect for human rights must be prioritised in the NPF through training, sanctions and adequate resourcing of internal and external control mechanisms for investigating rights abuse in the NPF.
- In addition to institutional liability, any police officer involved in human rights violations must be held personally accountable through both administrative and judicial processes, and subjected to sanctions and punishment. However, mere dismissal or suspension for abusing human rights should not be seen as a substitute for criminal prosecution where appropriate.
- The police should be given public relations training in order to be better equipped to communicate and relate with members of the public in ways that uphold human dignity while preserving police authority.
1.5.4 Poor Public Presentation of the Police
Poor public presentation of the NPF and its members was identified as another major cause of lack of public confidence on the police. The participants stressed that the unkempt and unfit appearance of police officers, the shabby and often stinking police stations, and the filthy and dilapidated police barracks have created a deep contempt for the police in the minds of the public. Furthermore, obsequious greetings such as “Your boys are here Sir!” to motorists in expensive cars at checkpoints in solicitation of tips instead of doing their work in a professional manner make police officers look like beggars.
1.5.5 Recommendations
- The NPF should ensure that the quality of fabric for police uniforms is improved, and that accessories such as belts, boots, sweaters, rain coats and boots are provided and upgraded. Regular inspections of kits should be carried out to ensure that police are smartly dressed at all times while in uniform.
- Police officers must meet set standards of physical fitness, with regular fitness tests. To ensure this, every police station should have access to a fully equipped gymnasium.
- An urgent nationwide audit of police barracks must be carried out with a view to renovating and maintaining them. Cleaning contractors should be engaged to ensure that police barracks are regularly cleaned. Senior officers should carry out regular inspections, with sanctions for dirty and unkempt premises.
- Police officers should be adequately remunerated and motivated to reduce the present low self-esteem that pervade the junior and some senior ranks.
Another cause of low public confidence in the NPF which came out strongly during the public hearings of the CSO Panel was police insensitivity to the plight of victims of gender crimes such as domestic violence and rape. Not only do the police ridicule and trivialize cases of domestic violence and rape reported to them, they go further and blame the victims for their victimization. The result is a very low rate of reporting what are known as gender crimes. The Panel found that police personnel lack the knowledge and skills to respond sensitively to gender crimes or deal with vulnerable groups such as children or persons with disabilities as they have received no training in policing such groups.
1.6.2 Recommendations
- A specialised training programme on policing of gender crimes should be introduced, and only officers, whether male or female, identified from the general course to be interested and committed to the issue should be nominated to undergo such training.
- A Gender Crimes Section or Family Support Unit should be set up at the Area Command level in states, to respond to gender crimes. Only officers who have undergone specialised training should be posted to this section.
Other issues critical to improving police effectiveness and public confidence in the NPF identified by the CSO Panel include: name and orientation of the police, funding of the police, reward and recognition for the police, the issue of state police, community policing, police accommodation, policing of elections and the design of police stations.
1.7.2 The Call for State Police
The CSO Panel noted that previous government Committees on police reform rejected calls for State police, giving reasons such as that local police forces were misused by politicians in the past, or will lead to the break-up of Nigeria in the future. However, the Panel considered the argument as a mere mantra repeated by those who wish to avoid the hard thinking that the issue really requires. The CSO Panel is of the view that it is essential for Nigeria to commence a much more informed debate on the subject, so that a rational and measured decision can be taken, which will hopefully address the concerns raised by those opposed to state police. The Panel also considers that while the experiences of the past are important, they should be used as guides, rather than all-time barriers to the future establishment, composition, operations or control of State police in Nigeria.
1.7.3 Recommendations
- Government should establish a committee to work out the modalities for the establishment of State police in states desirous of maintaining such, with a view to recommending the framework and measures that should be put in place to address the concerns against state police.
- State Police should only be established on a basis of strict adherence to the principles of operational autonomy, and be based on sound professional practice in appointment, operations and control.
- There should be defined parameters of cooperation which provide that where a state does not fully cooperate with its counterpart or the Federal Police on any matter the Federal Police should take over and deal with the matter as is common in other jurisdictions.
- Civil society organisations should work with the legislature to conduct informed debates in partnership with the media, towards amending the Constitution to allow for the establishment of State police and also produce a bill that will guarantee the establishment of independent and professional state police services.
The Panel found the current state of funding the NPF challenging at different levels, including low budgetary allocation, incomplete release of budgeted funds and late release of funds, all of which make planning in the NPF a difficult enterprise. However, the Panel found most troubling the practice of donation of funds and equipment to the NPF by state, local governments and private bodies, which are not captured in the annual budget of the NPF and often end up fuelling corruption in the police. The Panel believes that regulation of these complementary sources of funding to the police will not only enable a credible assessment of whether the NPF is indeed underfunded but also encourage better utilization of the donated resources and check the risk of politicization and privatization of the police, which such donations could induce.
1.7.5 Recommendations
- A transparent system and guidelines for making financial, vehicular, equipment and other forms of support or assistance to the NPF should be put in place by the NPF and its oversight agencies.
- Financial contributions must be reported and paid into designated police accounts to ensure compliance with police financial regulations.
- Contributions in kind must conform to police equipment standard. Would-be donors should make their intentions known in advance of purchase, and obtain the specifications for any items that they may wish to contribute.
- States, local governments, individuals and organisations must reveal the source of the funds used or donated, and the exact cost of each item of equipment provided from their own resources to the police.
- Such contributions should be considered as part of the budgetary resources available to the police.
1.7.6 Reward and Recognition in the NPF
The Panel notes that there is no system of rewarding police officers for outstanding community service and that frontline police officers hardly receive recognition and commendation from the government or the public for the important work they do, often at the risk of their own lives. The Panel concludes that this type of officer needs to be recognized and rewarded for their sense of duty instead of the current practice of mostly restricting national awards to the leadership of the NPF.
1.7.7 Recommendations
- Model or outstanding police officers should be recommended for national honours, with particular attention being paid to deserving officers of lower rank.
- Communities and civil society organisations should also identify and reward or honour outstanding police officers in their communities.
- Appropriate publicity should be given to officers who are honoured or rewarded, and the conduct for which they are receiving awards.
- The NPF should set aside a day or week every year for celebrating outstanding performance by its officers and for remembering its fallen heroes, as done in the military. Such a day or week should also be used to organize seminars, workshops and symposia in different parts of the country to sensitize members of the public about the important work the NPF does in Nigerian society.
1.7.9 Model Police Station
Finally, the Panel notes that policing is a local matter and that citizens’ enduring perception of the NPF and willingness to make use of the formal criminal justice system in resolving disputes is often based on how they or people they know are treated at police stations when they go to report crime or call for help. To change peoples’ experience and perception of the NPF for the better, police reform programs need to concentrate on the local level of policing where it matters most. It is therefore urgently necessary for the government to commit to supporting a pilot program of comprehensive remodelling of police stations in Nigeria as to architectural designs, physical buildings, availability of facilities, strategies and processes that improve police services at the police station.
1.7.10 Recommendations
- Government should undertake a comprehensive assessment of police stations in Nigeria with a view to determining whether they are fit for purpose. Such a review should examine the architectural designs, physical facilities, functions, strategies, processes and more importantly orientation of the personnel management with a view to developing an action plan for comprehensive remodelling of police stations in Nigeria.
- Following the action plan, a police station should be selected in the capital of each of the 36 states and Abuja for the commencement of the pilot model police station in Nigeria.
- Government should concentrate on developing physical infrastructure such as designing model police station architecture that incorporates good practices obtainable across jurisdictions; building the structures, equipping them with modern facilities that will make the work environment pleasant for the police, visiting members of the public and suspects in custody; providing adequate communication equipment and communication; ensuring that office supplies are regular etc.
- Development partners and CSOs should be partnered with by the government and NPF to provide technical assistance in the piloting of model police stations especially in the areas of developing and implementing integrated model of Community Policing, Community Safety, Family Support Units, Neighbourhood Policing and Crime Prevention at the stations.
The CSO Panel believes that if the recommendations of this report are implemented together with those of the government Committee, the NPF will in the near future become more effective, accountable and service oriented. The Panel invites the reader to read the full report.
[1] See Robert Reiner (2000), The Politics of the Police, Oxford: Oxford University Press
[2] Quoted in Opportunity for Justice, Lagos: CLEEN Foundation (2006), p. 174.[3] Section 103 of the Nigerian Police Act Cap 359, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 1990
[4] The current training curriculum is divided into the following main areas of police duties: (i) police administration, (ii) police investigation and intelligence duties, (iii) traffic duties, (iv) legal duties, (v) liberal studies and (vi) field studies.
[5] The Yusufu Panel Report 2008 estimated that it would cost N19, 951,777,126.12 to refurbish police training institutions.
