Would you say The Nigerian Police makes things worse for Nigerians?

The Police Force in Nigeria has been the most attacked by ordinary citizens most times in this country. However, they are not victims just for nothing or for the sake of being made scape goats. They asked for it one can add, because they do not seem sincere in their dealings with the Nigerian people when it comes to serving and protecting them with intergrity. The other truth of the matter is are they paid well? Are they treated as a Police Force should be? etc.

If they are not treated well, they should clamour for their rights not attack the masses.

Its only in Nigeria you see Bribery as a Norm and "refusing to bribe" as an offence.

the Police Force should be scrapped without further delay. They make things worse for Nigerians thru their regular accidental discharge, misrepresentation, bribery on our roads, prostitution (largest patronizer of sex workers), bad drinking habit, etc.

i just hate the social menace called Nigeria Police Force.

Are you a crime lord who wants the police to be scrapped so he can go about his business of stealing, maiming and killing without anybody to challenge him? because if you are not, then your statement is utterly ridiculous. What we need is to pay our policemen well, give them better training so they can be more effective, and remove the corrupt leaders in the police force (like IG Tafa Balogun)

Seun, word up you just said what I had in mind, how can you have effective policeman when they are lacking benefits and salaries. you can not run effective force with out training and equipments, and as we've all seen where the money was going.

Many Nigerians see the police force simply as the largest and best organized armed gang in the land, and as such have no qualms about the tradition of paying bribes as insurance against  harassment, unwarranted imprisonment or death from "accidental" gunshots.

Deplorable as that situation may seem to outsiders, those resident in the country realize that it is still preferable to deal with an armed gang that[i] theoretically [/i] exists to fight crime than it is to be left at the mercy of lesser armed gangs who make no pretense of upholding any laws, and are far more likely to use deadly force for pure entertainment in the course of their residential or highway robberies.

When lapses in the police recruitment selection process are eventually addressed, along with pay-rate and barracks deficiencies, then the performance and professionalism of the Nigerian police might begin to approximate that of other more civilized nations.  In the meantime, the law of the jungle is beater than no law at all.

Seun:

Are you a crime lord who wants the police to be scrapped so he can go about his business of stealing, maiming and killing without anybody to challenge him? because if you are not, then your statement is utterly ridiculous. What we need is to pay our policemen well, give them better training so they can be more effective, and remove the corrupt leaders in the police force (like IG Tafa Balogun)

Seun Man, i'm not a Crime Lord and I don't steal, neither maime nor kill. I am a responsible Nigerian working as a double manager (Info. Tech and Human Reources) in the largest Foundry in West Africa Sub Region and at least I hold Master degree to confirm to U that i'm literate to certain extent.

I guess i was too emotional in my response but that was as a result of my first hand experience in the hands of the so called police force in Nigeria. If u're the one whose immediate family has been touched by the nefarious activities of the police, i'm sure u will not write what u've written about me. Moreso, when a loved one has been taken away by their so called "Accidental Discharge" and the only thing they could offer was their eroneous and always misleading "Trajectory Theory".

Who says a new outfit cannot replace the present corrupt police? The police can be scrapped and replace with a new outfit entirely. After all, the present Police Force started somewhere.

Seun, was Tafa Balogun not being paid well? the corruption has eaten into their fabrics and today, an average policeman or woman will uphold and pursue with figour, false claims rather than the truth.

To cap it all, there are still thousands of Tafa Baloguns in the Nigerian Police Force. My man, I still love u inspite of your high handedness, after all; that is the essence of this forum.

Seun, it is not my business to go into your chat with Yemstrad, but I think you were not very academic in your response. this is my personsl opinion though, but you need to remain focused tyhan start to attack personalities. We have to find a forum to discuss our problems in this country objectively and not to engage in such unwarranted talks.

The point is our Police force needs to be re-orientated no doubt but we too the larger society have to make a tremendous change in the way we relate with them and each other otherwise we shall all be blinded by emotions instead of being objective. That is the more reason why I tend to agree with Layi's comments

So take it easy men!

quote author=yemstrad link=topic=3704.msg125293#msg125293 date=1134134827]
the Police Force should be scrapped without further delay. They make things worse for Nigerians through their regular accidental discharge, misrepresentation, bribery on our roads, prostitution (largest patronizer of sex workers), bad drinking habit, etc.

i just hate the social menace called Nigeria Police Force.
[quote][/quote]

I don't know if responding to Seun on your behalf was a good idea, becos you know what, he picked the last topic I sent in on Police and said he does not like it hence he is removing it. Well I am not taking it personal I think he is doing his job as a moderator. But then one thing came to my mind there are lots of topics that have been there for more than a month without receiving a single response yet they remained there. But mine was there for just two days and he described it as "difficult to redeem", yet it recieved at least a response or two in its two days of appearance.

Well Seun one bad apple wont spoil the whole bunch, you are doing a good job guy and we love it here but can you try not being very unilateral in you decisions in view of the fact that your site is meant for people to participate freely?

Again I hope you are not removing my topic for the above reason ko?

Babagana, u have said it all. Let's assume he is doing his job but eeehhhmm, wait a minute..............i'm begining to look at things differently, honestly speaking.

@ babagana AND YEMSTRAD...pls leave my babyboy Seun alone. nairaland puts food on our table!

On a more serious note, the Nigerian Police Force is a reflection
on how far corruption has eaten into the society.
lets face it, Nigeria is not the only country whose police force is
corrupt basically due to low salary infact that is the major reason
why the U.S.A police force is influenced by
the crime lords to an extent.

In nigeria our policemen/women are underpaid
with no health plans for their family and themselves
and the retirement benefit is a joke! and when
a low rack officer dies in the line of duty...

his family is paid =N=30,000( as at two years ago) {although TAFA tried to change that(the man be try for the force oh) }
so tell me why the same man should not take bribe?
their barracks is a den for deseases and a hid out for germs.

The Force is just corrupt like the rest of Nigeria.

hotspice:

@ babagana AND YEMSTRAD...please leave my babyboy Seun alone. nairaland puts food on our table!

On a more serious note, the Nigerian Police Force is a reflection
on how far corruption has eaten into the society.
lets face it, Nigeria is not the only country whose police force is
corrupt basically due to low salary infact that is the major reason
why the U.S.A police force is influenced by
the crime lords to an extent.

In nigeria our policemen/women are underpaid
with no health plans for their family and themselves
and the retirement benefit is a joke! and when
a low rack officer dies in the line of duty...

his family is paid =N=30,000( as at two years ago) {although TAFA tried to change that(the man be try for the force oh) }
so tell me why the same man should not take bribe?
their barracks is a den for deseases and a hid out for germs.

The Force is just corrupt like the rest of Nigeria.

You know something, you are really spicy and hot. This is one of the most sensible quote of the topic! please these are issues that are biting deep into the fabrics of our nation and we need to discuss them at forums like these.TRUE TALK, TRUE TALK!

babagana:

You know something, you are really spicy and hot. This is one of the most sensible quote of the topic! please these are issues that are biting deep into the fabrics of our nation and we need to discuss them at forums like these.TRUE TALK, TRUE TALK!

Best quote of the topic indeed! Spicy got the message in its absolute sense and since the topic provide the forum for discussing the police as a sector in the larger society; hence, the focus it received from us.

No one is gonna single out the police force as the only corrupt entity in Nigeria. But a more pathetic side of it is that most of their corrupt tendencies or leanings do cost innocent people their precious and promising lives

Ok, my excellent and intellie Spicy, i don leave Seun alone o. Afterall, him be our Super Oga for this site.

Nigerian Police Force is a govt sanctioned and formed organization with a mission and vision to:

(1) Steal from the people you are supposed to protect;
(2) Beat up innocents and protect the crooks;
(3) Intimidate while stealing and breaking the laws of the land;
(4) Shut at any provocation, even over =N=10 [ten naira] bribe; and
(5) Look and smell dirty.

Nigeria will be better off without the police and the military.

i wont say so. the nigerian police force and indeed our military are highly skilled and very professional though poorly paid. If you are referring to the few bad eggs which do not amount to 5% then you are being unfair.

t was a show of shame for the Nigeria Police Force as 16 of its officers were paraded Thursday in Abuja for alleged armed robbery and economic sabotage.

Among those paraded were Police Corporal Isaac Mangs, with Force No. 235783, who is facing multiple charges of murder and armed robbery.

Corporal Mangs, who hails from Mushere town in Bokkos Local Government area of Plateau State, enlisted in the Police Force as a constable in 2003 got promoted two years later, and was attached to No. 21 Squadrom of the Police Mobile Force (PMF) Abuja, where he served until recently when he was fished out as a son of the devil.

Also cooling his heels in detention is a mobile policeman attached to Mopol 5 Squadron in Benin, who led a five-man gang, which recently robbed the Standard Chartered Bank in the Wuse district of Abuja, carting away a huge sum of money after killing three persons, including a security guard. Upon his arrest, police anti-robbery detectives, have so far recovered the sum of $10,000 and N1.8 million cash from him.

Parading the suspects before newsmen Wednesday in Abuja, Inspector-General of Police, Sunday Ehindero, said by their conduct, the 16 policemen have violated their oath of office and flagrantly refused to serve and protect with integrity, lamenting that "they have brought shame to their uniforms by being perpetrators and perpetuators of crime.”

Ehindero was particularly piqued over the case of Corporal Mangs, who not only snatched a Toyota Camry car, registered as CL 456 EKY, from one late Bala Dodo, who offered him lift, but also killed the driver after robbing him of the sum of N6,000.

Ironically, Mangs, who confessed to the crime, said he abandoned his duty post at the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command Headquarters where he was deployed on standby, and went to the Jabi motor park in Abuja, where he plotted the crime with two of his accomplices, identified as Chinedu Eze and Kayode Kolawole.

Armed with a V2 rifle, Mangs picked up the duo from the Jabi motor park and positioned themselves at a twin flyover bridge linking the Games Village to the National Stadium in the Federal C apital city.
Narrating how he snatched the car after clubbing the driver to death, Mangs said he flagged down and pleaded for lift, which the unsuspecting driver obliged him.

Shortly thereafter, they snatched the car, forced the driver into the back seat, and diverted the vehicle to a road leading to Kabusa village where Corporal Mangs brought him out and clubbed him to death with the butt of his rifle, after collecting the N6,000 in his pocket.

With mission accomplished, Mangs and his comrades-in- crime drove the vehicle to Illela, a border town in Sokoto State, where luck ran against them, and they were arrested while attempting to sell the car.
Other cops paraded, included Inspectors Moses Nwagboso, Christian Okere, and Sergeant Daniel Gokir.
Also being held are Corporal Ogunode Williams, Constables Musa Mohammed, Ishaku Anrihi, and Ibrahim Ahmed.

The IGP also named Sergeants Ibrahim Mamuda, Abubakar Dandare, as well as Corporals Ajiboye Oluwole, Usman Ahmed and Maijamaa Alhaji, as police officers who have been dining with the devil before they were eventually nabbed.

He said all the 16 policemen and their 12 civilian accomplices will soon appear in court on charges of criminal conspiracy, armed robbery, culpable homicide, and illegal dealing in petroleum products.


copied from .www.sunnewsonline.com

otokx:

i wont say so. the nigerian police force and indeed our military are highly skilled and very professional though poorly paid. If you are referring to the few bad eggs which do not amount to 5% then you are being unfair.

Otokx, are you in this country at all? Did you say 5%? pleeeeeeease!!!!!! 5% at every check point is enough to say its too bad not just a few bad eggs. And don't bring the rest of the Military into this. The situation is terrible!!!!!!!!

Geez, upon the street-level actualization of your demand that there be neither a military nor police force in Nigeria ,  would you further recommend the Somalia Government of Liberalized Anarchy model as opposed to the more conservative Liberia Government of Shifting Frontlines model for the new, every-man-for-himself  Nigerian sate you boldly envision ?

The issue of the Nigerian police force is one which can not be treated in isolation.When i say isolation,i intend to say that all factors which come into play in both the establishment and control of the force must always be looked upon in other to explain or rationalise their lapses.How?you may ask.Simple.If there is a higher authority to which members of tyhe Nigerian police are answerable to,then when they ere it is to this higher authority that we must look in a veiw to rationalising the excesses of this force.If this higher authority is fast in responding,then there is no or norminal difference between offence and response and thereby making the public less at ease with the police since they are made aware that these lapses can be checked.When however this is not done,then the public continue to loose their confidence in the force.In considering if the police make things worse then,it is to this higher authority that we must look.If their attitude is bad,then the police are bad and in the long run the public suffer.If this higher autority is not disciplined,then it is had to conceive of a police force that will in anyway be disciplined.If for instance the inspector general of the Nigerian police force could come out and face a group of molested female protestors yesterday and announce that the police was rigth in using teargas to dispearse the protesting mothers [which as we know was cause of death of Chuba Okadigbo] as the protest was unlawful[even though the supreme court recently ruled that there is a constitutional rigth to assembly without getting a warrant from the police],in such a situation what is left for the masses?We can be sure of one thing,and that is that his statement was politically motivated as the protest was in a bid to press for the dismissal of Borishade [whom as we know has failed in all that he has been entrusted with both as minister of education and minister of avaition]If the police boss can be manupulated to making such statements what do you think would be the lot of the rank and file?Let us stop a little in condeming the police[though they cannot be excussed] and look at those who are in charge of their activities.Remember,'he who pays the piper,dictates the tune'.

Then we can as well blame Obasanjo for all the wrong things in our country. We've been blaming our leaders for a very long time, enough of this. Let's also examine ourselves.

Our leaders need to do their part as well.

Of what good is a car where there is no road? Of what good are dreams without the enabling enviroment?

otokx:

i wont say so. the nigerian police force and indeed our military are highly skilled and very professional though poorly paid. If you are referring to the few bad eggs which do not amount to 5% then you are being unfair.

Otokx, you must be in foreign land and not Nigeria or you have someone in the Police Force or you were part of the Police Force.

Jakumo:

Geez, upon the street-level actualization of your demand that there be neither a military nor police force in Nigeria , would you further recommend the Somalia Government of Liberalized Anarchy model as opposed to the more conservative Liberia Government of Shifting Frontlines model for the new, every-man-for-himself Nigerian sate you boldly envision ?

The situation in Somalia is the absence of Law & Order while in Nigeria is the corruption of power by the police and armed forces. In some sense, there is no law & order in Nigeria because of the abuse of power. Who are you to complain or press charges against men in the uniform? In Somalia there is no absolute power like it is in Nigeria with the police and armed forces in charge. Anarchy in Nigeria is in glorified form, where power corrupts absolutely.

You see you don't Need a Gun to do INTELLIGENCE WORK Just have your Sniffers and your Good Forensic guys coupled with your criminal Psychologist doing their Profiling you are home free.

You don't need a heavily armed angry looking soldier or police man in the street.

WE should have a FEDERAL INTELLIGENCE BODY THAT IS ON THE GROUND THEY SHOULD MOUNT CAMERA EVERYWHERE FOR SURVEILLANCE,

@ seun!! their is no amount of money you can pay the Nigerian police that will be sufficient for them the situation now is beyond human comprehension.

The word scrap is an option. but before it can be scrapped, there should be a force to be reckon with to take the place of the Nigerian police. a force so ruthless like the nigerian Army. to check mate activities of the scrap nigerian police. they may want to regroup to cause havoc in the society.

Hello Backslider

This is the first time I will disagree with you. The issue on ground in Nigeria pass intelligence!!!

The way of thinking, training, personality, approach to members of the public and environment within the police station are all faulty.

Pls note that the police in a country are a reflection of the citizens/society. Nigerian police are a reflection of the corruption within politics and government. Until this stops the police will remain the same way. How many Nigerians complain? It is us abroad that are shocked by the actions of the Nigerian police.

Does the IG not know that his officers are collecting bribe? (if he does not know then he is living in a world of his own distant from the reality on the ground). But we know that his officers are sharing the IG so he is turning a blind eye to what we say about corruption and bribe within the police.

If you sack the police then you create more criminals, but if you set-up an intensive programme where they get trained and provide more incentives for officers so that they know that even if they die in service, their family will live a qualitative life. All that takes is undertaking an insurance policy for every police officer.

Note: the police will remain the same until those in government change.

The duties of EfCC is what our police should be doing, but who born monkey For a police officer to go and arrest a governor or a director of a bank at home!!!

If you think the police is bad, try armed robbers. They are by far the lesser evil.

@ seun!! the nigerian police contributed to the number of armed robbers on our high ways and street get a hold of any armed robber now and check out the weapon he is carrying, police AK. where did they get it from don't tell me in the market cause we have not started the trade yet. disband the nigherian police in a week and bring in ruthless nigerian militery and see how armed robbers will disappear into thin air.

I have read many posts criticising the unprofessional behaviours of the Nigeria Police. While I do not support their acts, I wish to state that the problem of Nigeria is a wholistic one which must be tackled wholistically. Singling out the Police for the problem of Nigeria is unfair. The police are not from the moon, neither are they angels from heaven. They are Nigerians, flesh and blood, and are therefore behaving like typical Nigerians who believe in making it by hook or crook. As of today, morality is seen by most as immorality in Nigeria. The slogan that "the end justifies the means" has become the motto and as such every illegal ways to achieve is welcome.

I hope those lambasting the Police know that Nigerians who stole from the treasury live luxurious lives, are worshipped and are given chieftaincy titles and honorary degrees, while those who exhibit honesty and without money barely exist and are seen as never -do- wells, who deserve no recognition in the society. The police therefore, being part of the larger society has no choice but to follow the accepted trend. Remember that the trend is your friend.

Jamace:

Na so u talk, but no so e bi my friend, think again!!

Jamace:

Na so u talk, but no so e bi my friend, think again!!

Please make what you mean clearer.

Jamace:

, ''The police therefore, being part of the larger society has no choice but to follow the accepted trend. Remember that the trend is your friend.''

This is where I have a problem, u see the police should be not be part of any trend but that which they are chosen to be part of, whcih being A POLICE FORCE. Period!!! The President of Nigeria is from the larger society but has to execute his duty as a President and so does anybody charged with any responsibility what soever. But, if we choose to be part of a larger whol;e which is decayed and we are supposed to change things for the better then we have missed the point. if every professional will stick to this then Doctors will only kill people rather than treat, Bankers will only steal from people rather than be custodians of peoples money and so on if you get what I mean. The belief that we are part of a decayed system will only further damage the system rather than correct.