No Computers, No Uniforms: The Sorry State of Nigeria Police

inside a police station in Lagos and inside a police station in Adelaide, Australia.

From non-availability of computers, Internet facilities and uniforms, several factors make the typical Nigerian police station one of the most uninspiring places to work, Temitayo Famutimi writes in this follow-up report to DPOs’ confessions: We run police stations on bribery and charity

The second journey to Police Stations in Nigeria:
A stern looking and gun-totting policeman mounting guard at the entrance of the police station yelled, "Who are you looking for?"

“The Divisional Police Officer,” this Punch correspondent replied. After being informed the DPO was not around, the visitor requested to see the divisional crime officer. While being led into the arrival room of the police station, which is popularly called the charge room, he was welcomed by three photographs hanging on the walls, directly opposite the entrance of the station.

The pictures were those of the Governor of Ogun State, Ibikunle Amosun; the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Mohammed Abubakar and the Ogun State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Ikemefuna Okoye, showing them wearing a smiling look, which sharply contrasted with that of the policeman at the entrance of the station.

Inside the charge room, clothes of officers and men of the station hanged precariously on the walls, while the policeman behind the counter, hitherto flipping through some documents, asked, “Oga, how we can help you?”

After some interaction with him, this correspondent sat on one of the two haggard benches positioned beside the wall.

One side of the wall has been turned into a blackboard of some sort, serving as an official “portal” for registering the number of suspects being held in the station’s detention facility. There is no computer system in the charge room, which is the main administrative office of a police station.

When this correspondent sought to use the toilet, he was directed to one of the uncompleted structures behind the main building. As the policeman later revealed, the arena is the best bet for whoever is to pressed by nature as the toilet within the building is not usable as it is in a state of disrepair.

Besides, the premises of the station was packed full of abandoned vehicles and motorcycles, many of which were either impounded by policemen on sundry grounds, those involved in accidents, or meant to be used as an exhibit for a criminal proceeding in court. The surrounding area looked like a mechanic workshop –disorganised, unkempt and unattractive.

But while the abandoned vehicles have taken shine off the aesthetic value of the premises, they serve as relaxation arena for policemen within the station. The fact is that although policemen are known to work in a high-stress environment, such that on each passing day, they tackle security challenges, in Nigeria little is being done to satisfy their relaxation needs.

The above scenario is a sample of what obtains in many police stations across the country. Apart from the fact that many of them are lacking in aesthetics, the state of affairs in many of them dampens the morale of an average policeman.

Police stations – children of circumstance
A Divisional Police Officer in Lagos, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the poor outlook of the police stations could be traced to neglect of the institution in terms of funding over the years.

He lamented that many of them were constructed far below international standards because members of the public were the ones who pulled their resources together to build them as they were determined to have police presence in their areas.

He added, “Because members of the community are the ones who often rally round to build many of the stations you see today, the structures being erected don’t in anyway conform to international best practices of what a standard police should look like.

“As soon as these so-called stations are built, the police just go there to take possession and that is why you will hardly see police stations having relaxation facilities. This makes many of our men to resort to sleeping in abandoned vehicles in the station as well as interrogation and charge rooms, among others.

“In fact, many police stations don’t have operations rooms, which are supposed to house the base set for communication, standard map of the area under its jurisdiction and a host of their facilities.”

Asked if the problem of underfunding of the police is not having a toll on acquisition of security equipment such as guns, ammunitions and riot-control equipment, the senior police officer said, “Even if funding is affecting the acquisition of security and intelligence equipment, you don’t expect me to say that in the public, especially on the pages of the newspaper as it may be suicidal to the operational tactics of the police.

“The bottom line is that less than 60 per cent of the amount being budgeted for the police are being released to us and that is why the police is constrained on many fronts to take its rightful place in internal security of the country.’’

No Internet facility
Despite the allocation of N7, 147,181 for Internet access charges in the 2012 police budget, a cross-section of DPOs say the money did not in any get down to the police stations during the course of the year.

One of the DPOs attached to the Oyo State Police Command said, “Where are the computers? As you can see, the laptop computer in front of me is mine. I also acquired the modem I use for accessing the Internet from my purse. ‘’

Divisional police officers who spoke to our correspondent said they don’t even have computers, let alone getting allocation for connecting to the World Wide Web.

A DPO serving in one of the South Eastern states said, “We are still battling with the acquisition of stationeries and even biros for record keeping and very far from the use of information and communication technology in our daily routine activities in my division. The best technology device we still make use of is the walkie-talkie.

“We have yet to begin communicating via e-mails between police stations, area commands and state command headquarters. They didn’t acquire a single official computer for us, not to talk of the Internet subscription. If you see me working on a computer in my office, it’s for personal purposes not official.’’

Findings by our correspondent revealed that the inadequate funding of the police has left a huge gap in the sourcing of intelligence. It was learnt that it is the practice in policing globally to give informants who give privileged information some monetary rewards. But in Nigeria, this hardly happens.

“Monetary rewards are a key to success with many informants. In the past, we used to have some money set aside to source information and give to informants who have knowledge of criminal activities in our various areas of jurisdiction. But we don’t have the opportunity of setting such funds aside for such activities again,” a senior police officer attached to the Lagos State Police Command Headquarters said.

Although security is top priority of governments the world over, the funding of the Nigeria Police throws up some posers as to the Federal Government’s commitment to ensuring the safety of lives and property of its citizenry.

While the exact amount being received by the Nigeria Police High Command in Abuja could not be ascertained, findings by our correspondent revealed that a huge chunk of the monies being appropriated in the Nigerian budget yearly goes into the payment of wages and salaries.

For instance, in the breakdown of the 2012 Appropriation Act, out of the total allocation of N308, 474,241,153 budgeted, the sum of N298, 817, 945, 778 was meant for recurrent expenditure, which included the payment of wages and salaries of the over 300,000 officers and men of the Nigeria Police and general overhead costs for running the various police commands and formations across the country. The sum of N9, 656, 295,375 was voted for capital expenditure.

Besides, stakeholders may wonder what happens to the yearly allocation of money for sewing uniforms and other clothing for the rank and file of the Nigeria Police as many of them said they purchased their uniforms from the open market. Meanwhile, in the fiscal year ended 2012, the sum of N1.36bn was earmarked for uniforms and other accompanied kits of policemen.

How policemen sew their own uniforms
Policemen, in chats with our correspondent, complained that the only time they were opportune to enjoy the luxury of being given complete sets of uniform was when they were passing out at the police college.

A police corporal attached to the Ogun State Police Command said he buys textile materials from the open market and takes it to any tailor of his choice to sow for him.

He said instead of getting the other uniform parts such as the rank, badge, customised buttons, belt, beret and crest from the stores for free, the officials in charge of them at the Central Stores come to their various police stations to sell them.

He said, “The only time I got a uniform from the police was at the police college. Ï sewed my last uniform last year after my wife got me the clothing materials from the market. I took a sample of the old uniform with me to a tailor in my neighbourhood and I directed him on how it should be sown.

“Other police apparels which we find difficult to buy in the market are sold to us by policemen attached to the Central Stores. For instance, a police beret cost between N1, 500 and N3, 000; police crest is sold for between N150 and N300; the police badge sells for between N500 and N700.’’

It was learnt that the rank and file of the police were entitled to uniforms, which they have to hand over to the Police Central Stores at the termination of their service in the police – while police officers are required to purchase theirs from the stores.

Between Nigeria and South Africa
Meanwhile, Nigeria seems deficient on many fronts when compared with some countries of its standing, in terms of effective policing. For instance, South Africa, with an estimated population of 50.58 million people and police personnel strength of 157, 518, according to information on its website, saps.gov.za, has a police-population ratio of 1:321. But Nigeria, with a population of about 160 million people and estimated police force strength of 370,000, has its police-population ratio standing at 1: 432.

Yet, it appears that the South African government still places a bigger premium on adequate funding of the South Africa Police Service than the Nigerian government. In its 2013 budget, SA allocated the sum of R73.4bn to its police institution known as the South Africa Police Service, which amounts to $7.39bn ($1 = R9.92), while the Nigerian budget for the year is N311.15bn -amounting to $1.93bn ( $1= N161).

It is interesting to note that the difference between the yearly budgets for the police in some cities in the United States is not significantly different from what the Nigerian government earmarks for the entire Nigeria Police.

In Los Angeles – the most populous city in the US State of California – the Chief of Police of the Los Angeles Police Department administers an annual budget of $1.189bn and has over 10,354 sworn officers under his jurisdiction, according to the information available on its website, www.lapdonline.org.

The situation is worrisome – Force PRO
This development seems to account for why commands and formations of the police across Nigeria are always at the mercy of state and local governments, community development associations and some individuals, while criminals under the guise of philanthropy also contribute to the running of police stations in the country.

When contacted, the Acting Force Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Frank Mba, buttressed the findings of our correspondent as he described the situation in many police stations in the country as “worrisome.’’

In an electronic mail to our correspondent’s enquiry, Mba added that the Police Force Headquarters in Abuja had taken it upon itself to direct the attention of the Federal Government and members of the public to the "situation."

Mba linked part of the tribulation in the police to insufficient funding but noted that the money budgeted for the police was not being released by the authorities concerned.

Speaking on the poor wages and salaries of men and officers of the police, Mba said the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Mohammed Abubakar, "never fails to highlight the need for the improvement of the salaries of policemen" whenever he met with relevant agencies of government whenever such opportunities exist.

He said the digitalisation of the general mechanism of delivery of policing services in the country, being championed by the police ‘G’ Department, was on course but added that the efforts might not fully yield fruits due to the huge cost of digitalisation, sheer strength and spread of the police.

He noted, “It must be understood that budgetary allocations and actual release of funds are factors outside the control of the Nigeria Police Force. This current administration of the Nigeria Police Force has always underscored the many hazards of policing in our country and has timelessly drawn the attention of Government and the public to the worrisome conditions of police stations and barracks.

“The Inspector-General of Police strongly believes that only well-motivated police workforce can deliver effective and efficient policing services. As must be stated, personnel emoluments are exclusively determined by the FG. The Force leadership, however, never fails to highlight the need for improvement of the salaries of police officers and men.

“The IG, is consistently advancing this reality with the relevant organs of government and it is hoped that sooner than later, police officers and men will begin to enjoy better emoluments than what obtains presently.’’

‘We have ordered for uniforms’
Reacting to the rank and file complaints on outsourcing of police uniforms from the open market, Mba explained that the development “will soon be a thing of the past.’’

He said the police High Command had ordered for customised uniform materials with security features that will make it practically impossible for external sourcing of uniforms. He noted that adequate arrangements had also been made to ensure a “massive availability” of the new materials to enable a gradual replacement of the black and black uniform with the neon-blue and camouflage ones.

To mitigate the perennial issue of underfunding, Mba explained that the Force Headquarters was championing a policy of direct funding of all police stations, divisions, area commands, and state commands and other formations through a “top-to-bottom” approach.

According to him, this initiative will enable DPOs as well as heads of various police formations nationwide to run the affairs of their units efficiently in a manner “devoid of all forms of administrative bottlenecks.”

Echoing the mind of the police leadership, Mba added, "It may be advisable for the National Assembly to enact the Police Trust Fund Law to enable active participation of corporate entities as well as the general public in the funding of the police."