How acting IGP can tackle insecurity, reform police

With Nigeria facing many security challenges, and especially with the 2019 general elections around the corner, many Nigerians are concerned about the measures the new acting Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, will adopt to tackle the security problems, especially robbery, thuggery and kidnapping. The National Coordinator of Network on Police Reform in Nigeria (NOPRIN), […]

With Nigeria facing many security challenges, and especially with the 2019 general elections around the corner, many Nigerians are concerned about the measures the new acting Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, will adopt to tackle the security problems, especially robbery, thuggery and kidnapping.

The National Coordinator of Network on Police Reform in Nigeria (NOPRIN), Okechukwu Nwanguma, told Daily Trust on Sunday that Adamu’s appointment was at a critical time in the nation’s political history, and that it was also coming on the heels of many controversies and negative perceptions of the police.

Nwanguma said, “As political campaigns heat up in the run up to the February 2019 general elections, a lot depends on the acting IGP to guarantee free, fair, peaceful and credible elections.”

He said to achieve this, the IGP had to prioritise the welfare of personnel and provide kits and accoutrements for the police, and that he needed to engage communities to regain their trust and confidence so that they could assist the police with information and intelligence to tackle crime.

He adviced the acting IGP thus, “Make it clear to police officers that the police will be neutral, impartial, non-partisan and will provide equal security to all without fear or favour.”

He added that the ag IGP should support the police reform bill which sought to repeal and re-enact the colonial Police Act of 1943, and that he should engage the civil society and the National Assembly to push for the passage of the Police Trust Fund Bill, noting that the Act addressed most of the problems plaguing the police: investigation, training, discrimination, among others.

A retired Commissioner of Police (CP), Emmanuel Ojukwu, told Daily Trust on Sunday that the acting IGP was coming at a time the political temperature was high and there was palpable fear about political violence and police partisanship in elections.

CP Ojukwu said, “I believe that he is a professional…and he will discharge his duty within the rules. He is properly exposed and understands the implication of working against the ethics of the profession, or working contrary to the law.

“I believe he would be properly guided and would apply wisdom and proper direction to get things done, I also believe that he appreciates the value of the officers he has, and makes the best use of them.

“I also believe that he would work in a way to reposition the Nigeria Police, to return back to their primary place in internal security.

“There are many challenges that we all know, the internal security architecture is flawed, in the North West and the North East, the military is getting more involved; which is not normal.”

The acting IGP, Mohammed Adamu, had during the handing over ceremony between him and outgone IGP, Ibrahim Idris, on Wednesday January 16, 2019, vowed to provide the missing link in the leadership of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) and restore its past glory.

He said the police desired a transparent, responsive, motivational, accountable and knowledgeable leadership which would treat personnel with dignity.

He added that the police required a leadership that was sensitive to the welfare of the personnel and fair in the manner their promotion and other reward regimes were addressed.

He noted that, “The absence of this level of leadership has always been the missing link of policing in Nigeria…I am determined to draw on my national and international policing leadership experience to bridge this missing link.”

He said, “The lost glory of the Nigeria Police Force which remains a concern to government at all levels, citizens, human rights groups, the international community and indeed well-meaning officers and men of the force shall be restored.”

He said in the coming days he would unfold the strategic focus of his leadership, noting that in the short term the police had the responsibility of providing security for the 2019 general elections.

He warned that the police under his watch would not hesitate to identify, isolate and bring to justice any person or group that attempted to threaten the nation.

He said, “To unrepentant felons that may want to put our common will to test, the message is being relayed here loud and clear…We shall not hesitate to deploy our potent assets to deal firmly and decisively with electoral deviants.”

He also said, “I am mindful of the fact that President Muhammadu Buhari is desirous of bequeathing a citizens-friendly, operationally efficient and ethically guided police force that will take the lead in internal security operations.”

A senior police officer who worked at the abuja office of  INTERPOL with the current IG described him as a straight forward officer who would usher in changes into the police.

“He is going to do well as an IG because he is highly experienced. There will be changes in the way policing is done in Nigeria,” the officer who did not want to be named said.