Nigeria News

Reforming the Nigerian Police

November 17, 2020

SIR: SARS was established in 1992 to nip armed robbery, kidnapping and other related crimes in their buds. Unfortunately, its operatives went about this mandate in a diametrically opposite way, in the process, routinely perpetrating acts of extrajudicial killing, torture and cruel, inhuman acts against citizens in their custody.

But, can the disbandment of SARS end police brutality? Will the defunct SARS operatives, now redeployed to other units of the police, change overnight? The SARS menace must be seen as a just a part of the rot in the Nigeria police. The security agency simply needs overhauling.

To understand why wanton brutality and violence have become the modus operandi of the Nigeria police in general, one needs to understand the psychological makeup of the personnel of the security apparatus.

back link building services=0></a></div><p>In a recent study on the violent and aggressive tendencies of Nigeria police, Nwankwo et al (2020) investigated the role of empathy, psychological wellbeing and emotional intelligence on the aggressive tendencies of the personnel of Nigeria police. Relying on extant literature and data elicited from 230 respondents from the Force, selected through cluster and incidental sampling, the study concluded that the low empathy, psychological wellbeing, emotional intelligence of the Nigeria police personnel significantly leads to the personnel’s high aggressive tendencies.</p><p>Correspondingly, Ahmad Lateef noted in his Walden Ph.D thesis that “Over 90 percent of police officers in Nigeria are confronted with psychological illness and injuries as a result of occupational stress, which is compounded by a lack of attention to police officer welfare by government, insufficient annual leave, and poor salaries that contribute to poor performance.”</p><p>What all these imply is simple: Nigeria police is in dire need of reform. Thank goodness, the agitation in the streets has moved from #EndSARS to #ReformPolice. But one important caveat that Nigerians should bear in mind is that reformation cannot be a day project. It can only take an incremental process.</p><p>Before now, the Nigeria police had undergone many reformations. From the days of Musiliu Smith to the present leadership of Muhammad Adamu, many inspectors general of police introduced one reform or another to ensure seamless operation of the security agency. Tafa Balogun pursued 8-point agenda when he assumed office after the compulsory retirement of his predecessor, Musiliu Smith, who, in his time, offered a blueprint for reform designed to address the legacy of military rule when he assumed office in 1999. Sunday Ehindero talked about community policing and secured international support from countries. The United Kingdom, UK, funded a programme of community policing, the United States of America, USA, donated anti-riot equipment while Spain offered anti-terrorism and forensic science training, and Ukraine.</p><p>Needless to say, all these reforms, despite their usefulness at the time, could not end the endemic corruption within the Nigeria police nor were they able to foresee the monster that SARS transmogrified into.</p><div class='code-block code-block-5' style='margin: 8px 0; clear: both;'> <a href=https://www.adhang.com/guest-posting-services/ ><img class=lazy src=

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