BY JIDE AYOBOLU<\/p>\n
The Federal Government has approved the reorganization of the Nigeria
\nPolice with the creation of an additional department, five Zonal
\nCommands and granting of full autonomy to the Force Intelligence Bureau
\n(FIB). The Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO), DCP Frank Mba
\ndisclosed this in a statement recently in Abuja. He said the Federal
\nGovernment also approved the decentralization of the Force Criminal
\nIntelligence and Investigations Department (FCIID). Mba said the
\napprovals were part of efforts to address the threats posed by the
\ndynamics of crimes and full implementation of the Community Policing
\ninitiative in the country.<\/p>\n
According to him, by this re-organization, the FIB, which was previously
\na section under the FCIID, is now a full-fledged department of the Force
\nto be headed by a Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG). He said with
\nthe new arrangement, the force now had eight departments and each headed
\nby a DIG. Mba said the departments are: Finance and Administration,
\nOperations, Logistics and Supply, Force Criminal Investigations
\nDepartment (FCID), Training and Development, Research and Planning,
\nInformation and Communication Technology (ICT) and Force Intelligence
\nDepartment. He said with approval for the decentralization of the FCID,
\ntwo additional offices would be established in Enugu and Gombe States.
\nThe FPRO said the Enugu office would take care of investigations of
\nmajor crimes emanating from the South-East and South-South geo-political
\nzones while the office in Gombe would take care of the North-East
\ngeo-political zone.<\/p>\n
He said each of the annexes, in addition to the existing ones in Lagos
\nand Kaduna states, would be headed by an AIG who would report to the DIG
\nin charge of the FCID in the Headquarters. Mba said the creation of five
\nnew Zonal Command Headquarters in addition to the existing 12 brought
\nthe Zonal Command Headquarters to a total of 17 in the country. \u201cThe
\nfive new Zonal Commands are: Akure, for Ondo\/Ekiti; Awka for
\nEnugu\/Anambra\/Ebonyi; Yenagoa for Bayelsa\/Rivers; Maiduguri for
\nYobe\/Borno and Katsina for Katsina\/Kaduna. He said the Inspector General
\nof Police (I-G) Mr Mohammed Adamu, commended President Muhammadu Buhari,
\nwho is also the Chairman of the Nigeria Police Council for the approval.
\nThe I-G said the reorganization would further bring policing closer to
\nthe people, improve response time to incidents across the country and
\npromote efficiency in service delivery.<\/p>\n
It would be recalled that, in a related development, the former
\nInspector-General of Police, Mr Ibrahim Idris, has said that the Nigeria
\nPolice Force requires additional 155,000 personnel to adequately provide
\nsecurity for the country. Idris, who disclosed this at a two-day
\nNational Security Summit in Abuja recently, said to achieve this, the
\nforce needed to recruit 31,000 annually for five years.<\/p>\n
The theme of the summit is: Forging Partnership for Effective Strategies
\nto Curb the Menace of Kidnapping, Recurring Farmers-Herders Clashes and
\nCriminality in Nigeria. \u201cTo attain the UN ratio requirement of one
\npolice officer to 400 citizens of a country, the Nigeria Police Force
\nneeds to recruit 155,000 to police Nigerian population of approximately
\n182 million, \u201dhe said. Idris said that the police had not conducted
\nrecruitment into its rank and file cadre since 2011 until 2016 when the
\nrecruitment of 10,000 applicants was approved by the Federal Government.<\/p>\n
He said that this development had left a huge gap in the manpower need
\nof the force due to retirements, deaths and resignations. The police
\nboss said that the proposal had been forwarded to the Federal Government
\nfor consideration. He added that inadequate funding, shortfall in power
\nand training and retraining of personnel had been some of the challenges
\nconfronting the force. \u201cOver the years, the Nigeria Police Force
\nsaddled with the responsibility of policing the country, has been
\ngrappling with fundamental challenges which tend to impede its
\nperformance, \u201che said.<\/p>\n
The inspector-general said that the issue of funding of police had been
\ncritical to all past police panels, adding that it had yet to be
\ncritically addressed. He said that the Nigeria Police Force Reform Trust
\nFund bill before the National Assembly since 2008 had yet to be passed.
\nIdris called on members of the National Assembly to expeditiously pass
\nthe bill to address the challenge of funding for the police. \u201cWe
\nsolicit the support and understanding of the National Assembly to give
\nan accelerated hearing to this bill to adequately position the police
\nfor better funding and performance,\u201d he said. He said that the bill
\nwould further provide a legal framework that would outline the
\ncounterpart funding arrangement between the three tiers of government.
\nIdris noted that when passed, the police would be funded through a first
\nline charge on the federation account quarterly. He said that in spite
\nof paucity of fund, the force in collaboration with other security
\nagencies had been able to stabilize the polity. In a goodwill message,
\nthe Senate Committee Chairman on Police Affairs, Sen. Abu Ibrahim, said
\nthe senate would soon pass the bill. He said that the senate was
\ncommitted to making laws that would impact positively on the development
\nof the country. The summit was organized by the police in conjunction
\nwith Leadership Newspapers group ltd. and the National Council of
\nTraditional Rulers of Nigeria.<\/p>\n
It is important to note that, Section 214. (1) Of the 1999 Nigerian
\nconstitution provides that:<\/p>\n
There shall be a police force for Nigeria, which shall be known as the
\nNigeria Police Force, and subject to the provisions of this section no
\nother police force shall be established for the Federation or any part
\nthereof.<\/p>\n
(2) Subject to the provisions of this Constitution –<\/p>\n
(a) The Nigeria Police Force shall be organized and administered in
\naccordance with such provisions as may be prescribed by an act of the
\nNational Assembly;<\/p>\n
(b) The members of the Nigeria Police shall have such powers and duties
\nas maybe conferred upon them by law;<\/p>\n
(c) The National Assembly may make provisions for branches of the
\nNigeria Police Force forming part of the armed forces of the Federation
\nor for the protection of harbours, waterways, railways and air fields.<\/p>\n
The Police Act is an act to make provision for the organization,
\ndiscipline, powers and duties of the police, the special constabulary
\nand the traffic wardens. [1967 No. 41.] [1st April, 1943].<\/p>\n
According to the Police Act, the duties of The police shall be the
\nprevention and detection of crime, the apprehension of offenders, the
\npreservation of law and order, the protection of life and property and
\nthe due enforcement of all laws and regulations with which they are
\ndirectly charged, and shall perform such military duties within or
\noutside Nigeria as may be required of them by, or under the authority of
\nthis or any other Act.<\/p>\n
When it concerns public safety and public order as provided for in
\nsection 215 of the Constitution, The President may give to the
\nInspector-General such directions with respect to the maintaining and
\nsecuring of public safety and public order as he may consider necessary,
\nand the Inspector-General shall comply with those directions or cause
\nthem to be complied with. Similarly, the Commissioner of a State shall
\ncomply with the directions of the Governor of the State with respect to
\nthe maintaining and securing of public safety and public order within
\nthe State, or cause them to be complied with: (Provided that before
\ncarrying out any such direction the Commissioner may request that the
\nmatter should be referred to the President for his directions. The
\nofficer\u2019s powers and duties are conferred by statute.<\/p>\n
\u2022 A police officer has the power to conduct in person all prosecutions
\nbefore any court, whether or not the information or complaint is laid in
\nhis name. (S.23 Police Act)<\/p>\n
\u2022 A Police officer has the Power to arrest with or without warrant.
\nS.24 Police Act)<\/p>\n
\u2022 Power to search (S.28 Police Act)<\/p>\n
\u2022 Power to detain and search suspected persons (S.29 Police Act)<\/p>\n
\u2022 Power to take fingerprints<\/p>\n
\u2022 Grant Bail of person arrested without warrant, with or without
\nsureties, for a reasonable amount to appear before a magistrate at the
\nday, time and place mentioned in the recognizance.<\/p>\n
The Code of Conduct and Professional Standards for Police Officers is to
\nprovide all members for the Nigeria Police Force with a set of guiding
\nprinciples and standards of behaviour while on or off-duty.<\/p>\n
A Primary Responsibility of a Police Officer is to act as an official
\nrepresentative of government who is required and trusted to work within
\nthe law. The fundamental duties of a police officer include serving the
\ncommunity, safeguarding lives and property, protecting the innocent,
\nkeeping the peace and ensuring the rights of all to liberty, equality
\nand justice; In performing duties, a police officer shall perform all
\nduties impartially, without favour of affection or ill will and without
\nregard to status, sex, race, religion, political belief or aspiration.
\nAll citizens will be treated equally with courtesy, consideration and
\ndignity. They will conduct themselves both in appearance and composure,
\nin such a manner as to inspire confidence and respect for the position
\nof public trust they hold.<\/p>\n
Discretion – a Police officer will use responsibly, the discretion
\nvested in his position and exercise it within the law.<\/p>\n
Use of Force \u2013 a police officer will never employ unnecessary force or
\nviolence and will use only such force in discharge of duty, as is
\nreasonable in all circumstances.<\/p>\n
Confidentiality \u2013 Whatever a police officer sees, hears or learns
\nwhich is of a confidential nature, will be kept secret unless the
\nperformance of duty or legal provision requires otherwise.<\/p>\n
Integrity \u2013 a police officer will not engage in acts of corruption or
\nbribery, nor will an officer condone such acts by other police officers.
\nThe public demands that the integrity of police officers be above
\nreproach.<\/p>\n
Cooperation with other Police Officers and Agencies \u2013 Police officers
\nwill cooperate with all legally authorized agencies and their
\nrepresentatives in the pursuit of justice.<\/p>\n
Personal Professional Capabilities – Police Officers will be responsible
\nfor their own standard of professional performance and will take every
\nreasonable opportunity to enhance and improve their level or knowledge
\nand competence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":57968,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-73815","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles-opinions"],"yoast_head":"\n