BY JIDE AYOBOLU
The Federal Government has approved the reorganization of the Nigeria
Police with the creation of an additional department, five Zonal
Commands and granting of full autonomy to the Force Intelligence Bureau
(FIB). The Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO), DCP Frank Mba
disclosed this in a statement recently in Abuja. He said the Federal
Government also approved the decentralization of the Force Criminal
Intelligence and Investigations Department (FCIID). Mba said the
approvals were part of efforts to address the threats posed by the
dynamics of crimes and full implementation of the Community Policing
initiative in the country.
According to him, by this re-organization, the FIB, which was previously
a section under the FCIID, is now a full-fledged department of the Force
to be headed by a Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG). He said with
the new arrangement, the force now had eight departments and each headed
by a DIG. Mba said the departments are: Finance and Administration,
Operations, Logistics and Supply, Force Criminal Investigations
Department (FCID), Training and Development, Research and Planning,
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and Force Intelligence
Department. He said with approval for the decentralization of the FCID,
two additional offices would be established in Enugu and Gombe States.
The FPRO said the Enugu office would take care of investigations of
major crimes emanating from the South-East and South-South geo-political
zones while the office in Gombe would take care of the North-East
geo-political zone.
He said each of the annexes, in addition to the existing ones in Lagos
and Kaduna states, would be headed by an AIG who would report to the DIG
in charge of the FCID in the Headquarters. Mba said the creation of five
new Zonal Command Headquarters in addition to the existing 12 brought
the Zonal Command Headquarters to a total of 17 in the country. “The
five new Zonal Commands are: Akure, for Ondo/Ekiti; Awka for
Enugu/Anambra/Ebonyi; Yenagoa for Bayelsa/Rivers; Maiduguri for
Yobe/Borno and Katsina for Katsina/Kaduna. He said the Inspector General
of Police (I-G) Mr Mohammed Adamu, commended President Muhammadu Buhari,
who is also the Chairman of the Nigeria Police Council for the approval.
The I-G said the reorganization would further bring policing closer to
the people, improve response time to incidents across the country and
promote efficiency in service delivery.
It would be recalled that, in a related development, the former
Inspector-General of Police, Mr Ibrahim Idris, has said that the Nigeria
Police Force requires additional 155,000 personnel to adequately provide
security for the country. Idris, who disclosed this at a two-day
National Security Summit in Abuja recently, said to achieve this, the
force needed to recruit 31,000 annually for five years.
The theme of the summit is: Forging Partnership for Effective Strategies
to Curb the Menace of Kidnapping, Recurring Farmers-Herders Clashes and
Criminality in Nigeria. “To attain the UN ratio requirement of one
police officer to 400 citizens of a country, the Nigeria Police Force
needs to recruit 155,000 to police Nigerian population of approximately
182 million, ”he said. Idris said that the police had not conducted
recruitment into its rank and file cadre since 2011 until 2016 when the
recruitment of 10,000 applicants was approved by the Federal Government.
He said that this development had left a huge gap in the manpower need
of the force due to retirements, deaths and resignations. The police
boss said that the proposal had been forwarded to the Federal Government
for consideration. He added that inadequate funding, shortfall in power
and training and retraining of personnel had been some of the challenges
confronting the force. “Over the years, the Nigeria Police Force
saddled with the responsibility of policing the country, has been
grappling with fundamental challenges which tend to impede its
performance, “he said.
The inspector-general said that the issue of funding of police had been
critical to all past police panels, adding that it had yet to be
critically addressed. He said that the Nigeria Police Force Reform Trust
Fund bill before the National Assembly since 2008 had yet to be passed.
Idris called on members of the National Assembly to expeditiously pass
the bill to address the challenge of funding for the police. “We
solicit the support and understanding of the National Assembly to give
an accelerated hearing to this bill to adequately position the police
for better funding and performance,” he said. He said that the bill
would further provide a legal framework that would outline the
counterpart funding arrangement between the three tiers of government.
Idris noted that when passed, the police would be funded through a first
line charge on the federation account quarterly. He said that in spite
of paucity of fund, the force in collaboration with other security
agencies had been able to stabilize the polity. In a goodwill message,
the Senate Committee Chairman on Police Affairs, Sen. Abu Ibrahim, said
the senate would soon pass the bill. He said that the senate was
committed to making laws that would impact positively on the development
of the country. The summit was organized by the police in conjunction
with Leadership Newspapers group ltd. and the National Council of
Traditional Rulers of Nigeria.
It is important to note that, Section 214. (1) Of the 1999 Nigerian
constitution provides that:
There shall be a police force for Nigeria, which shall be known as the
Nigeria Police Force, and subject to the provisions of this section no
other police force shall be established for the Federation or any part
thereof.
(2) Subject to the provisions of this Constitution –
(a) The Nigeria Police Force shall be organized and administered in
accordance with such provisions as may be prescribed by an act of the
National Assembly;
(b) The members of the Nigeria Police shall have such powers and duties
as maybe conferred upon them by law;
(c) The National Assembly may make provisions for branches of the
Nigeria Police Force forming part of the armed forces of the Federation
or for the protection of harbours, waterways, railways and air fields.
The Police Act is an act to make provision for the organization,
discipline, powers and duties of the police, the special constabulary
and the traffic wardens. [1967 No. 41.] [1st April, 1943].
According to the Police Act, the duties of The police shall be the
prevention and detection of crime, the apprehension of offenders, the
preservation of law and order, the protection of life and property and
the due enforcement of all laws and regulations with which they are
directly charged, and shall perform such military duties within or
outside Nigeria as may be required of them by, or under the authority of
this or any other Act.
When it concerns public safety and public order as provided for in
section 215 of the Constitution, The President may give to the
Inspector-General such directions with respect to the maintaining and
securing of public safety and public order as he may consider necessary,
and the Inspector-General shall comply with those directions or cause
them to be complied with. Similarly, the Commissioner of a State shall
comply with the directions of the Governor of the State with respect to
the maintaining and securing of public safety and public order within
the State, or cause them to be complied with: (Provided that before
carrying out any such direction the Commissioner may request that the
matter should be referred to the President for his directions. The
officer’s powers and duties are conferred by statute.
• A police officer has the power to conduct in person all prosecutions
before any court, whether or not the information or complaint is laid in
his name. (S.23 Police Act)
• A Police officer has the Power to arrest with or without warrant.
S.24 Police Act)
• Power to search (S.28 Police Act)
• Power to detain and search suspected persons (S.29 Police Act)
• Power to take fingerprints
• Grant Bail of person arrested without warrant, with or without
sureties, for a reasonable amount to appear before a magistrate at the
day, time and place mentioned in the recognizance.
The Code of Conduct and Professional Standards for Police Officers is to
provide all members for the Nigeria Police Force with a set of guiding
principles and standards of behaviour while on or off-duty.
A Primary Responsibility of a Police Officer is to act as an official
representative of government who is required and trusted to work within
the law. The fundamental duties of a police officer include serving the
community, safeguarding lives and property, protecting the innocent,
keeping the peace and ensuring the rights of all to liberty, equality
and justice; In performing duties, a police officer shall perform all
duties impartially, without favour of affection or ill will and without
regard to status, sex, race, religion, political belief or aspiration.
All citizens will be treated equally with courtesy, consideration and
dignity. They will conduct themselves both in appearance and composure,
in such a manner as to inspire confidence and respect for the position
of public trust they hold.
Discretion – a Police officer will use responsibly, the discretion
vested in his position and exercise it within the law.
Use of Force – a police officer will never employ unnecessary force or
violence and will use only such force in discharge of duty, as is
reasonable in all circumstances.
Confidentiality – Whatever a police officer sees, hears or learns
which is of a confidential nature, will be kept secret unless the
performance of duty or legal provision requires otherwise.
Integrity – a police officer will not engage in acts of corruption or
bribery, nor will an officer condone such acts by other police officers.
The public demands that the integrity of police officers be above
reproach.
Cooperation with other Police Officers and Agencies – Police officers
will cooperate with all legally authorized agencies and their
representatives in the pursuit of justice.
Personal Professional Capabilities – Police Officers will be responsible
for their own standard of professional performance and will take every
reasonable opportunity to enhance and improve their level or knowledge
and competence.