VOLUME 6 ISSUE 3, 2021 Police and crime control in Nigeria: An expose Aguene, Ignatius Nnamdi Department of Sociology and Psychology Godfrey Okoye University Ugwuomu-Nike Enugu. agueneignatiusnnamdi@gmail.com and Ngene Innocent Aja, Department of Political Science Alex Ekwueme Federal University. Ndufu-Alike ajangenefunai@gmail.com Abstract The Nigerian Police which was inherited from the British Colonial Police has failed to live up to the expectations of majority of Nigerians with regard to the performance of their duties and other logistic demands. The major reasons for their failure are poor remuneration, poor entry qualification, lack of trust from the community members whom they serve, poor attitude to work, Police being members of the corrupt Nigerian society and finally undue government intervention in Police duties to deal with political opponents and public opinion makers or to protect criminals who are their thugs. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2006 inaugurated presidential committee on Police reform. The committee was asked in its terms of reference to “…examine Force recruitment policy, equipment, review and recommend measures in the reorganization, administration, operation and control of the Nigeria Police Force, with a view to enhancing effectiveness and efficiency in its operations and standard of training and other personal development activities and make recommendations for the modern Nigeria Police” (Newswatch, January 29, 2007 p.26). Despite, this noble gesture by the Federal Government for a new Nigeria Police Force, the expected result has not been achieved. This paper recommends training and retraining for Police Officers both in job performance and Police-community relations and undue government interfering in Police duties should be stopped. Keywords: Crime Control, Corruption and Awareness Campaign, Nigerian Police, Police- Community Relations. Introduction In everyday language, to deviate means to stray from an accepted path and many sociological definitions of deviance, simply elaborate upon this idea. Deviance is non- conformity to a given set of norms that are accepted by a significant number of people in communities or societies. Values are relative worth attached to objects or behavioural patterns, while norm is a standard of reference in accordance with which an entity or state of an affair is approved or disapproved. Social integration is achieved because societal members carry in their heads during the process of socialization what they ought to do and what they ought not to do mailto:agueneignatiusnnamdi@gmail.com mailto:ajangenefunai@gmail.com 349 under certain situations. Each person judges himself and his fellows according to these subtle and ubiquitous rules and any violation no matter how minor is not encouraged but rather attracts punishment though it could be slight or great depending on the gravity of the violation (Otite, 1994). The basis of social order is the various customs and norms which specify how people should behave in society. These customs and norms are generally subscribed to and internalized by members of a society. To get members of the society to conform to the behaviourial requirements of these customs and norms is the task of the social control mechanisms of society… in essence all societies are held together by systems of common rules or norms, hence the basis of social order is the system ofshared rules or norms (Igbo, 2008). Deviance and crime are not synonymous although in many cases they overlap. The concept of deviance is much broader than that of crime which refers only to non-conformist conduct that breaks law. What then is Crime and Delinquency? Crime is a social problem it is relative to time and place. It means that what constitutes a crime in Nigeria may not be regarded as crime in Ghana. What is a crime today may not be a crime tomorrow. Aguene (1999), noted that the nature and rate of crime changes as social change occurs. When social change occurs laws are passed to take care of the new situation that has been created by the change. Crime refers to those activities that break the law of the land and are subject to official punishment. British Criminal Law (1917) defend crime as any wrong which the government deems injurious to the public at large and punishes through a judicial proceeding in its own name. While Cliffords (1974), noted that generally, crime includes theft, murder, assault, fraud and other deleterious behaviours, that is, conducts which cannot be allowed because of public security. Delinquency refers to criminal acts which are committed by young people below the legally prescribed age for punishment they are teenagers. At the age of 12 a child becomes fully responsible for his acts and omissions which amount to crime under the criminal law. A child under the age of 17 cannot be sentenced to death. They are tried in special juvenile courts. Juvenile courts are special courts handling problems of delinquency or neglected children. Unlike the adult courts which try cases and recommend appropriate punishment for offenders. The main objective of the juvenile courts is not to administer punishment but rather to provide guidance, care, protection and rehabilitation for the child (Nkpa, 1983). Police and crime control in Nigeria 350 Statement of the Problem Despite, the huge investment of the Federal Government believing that Nigeria now have a reformed Police Force the reverse is the case. According to Ade (2007) the Presidential Committee was asked to examine ways and means for enhancing remuneration and welfare package of the Police including the provisions of adequate office and housing accommodation with a view to boosting the morale of Officers and men. He also noted that one month later after the Committee submitted the report another Presidential Committee was set up to raise N100 billion naira for the procurement of equipment for the Police Force. The government hoped this will improve their operational capabilities. This was the effort of the Nigerian Government to achieve the reformed Nigerian Police when Sunday Ehindero came on board as Inspector General of Police with vision and mission of his dream Police. The Assistant Commisioner of Police in Enugu State, Mr Ade was quoted as saying “I came on board with a vision and mission that have been developed over the years. A vision about the sort of Police Force of my dream”. He pursued his vision and mission with vigour which started with cleansing the image of the Police which was dirty then especially the killing of the APO six. He later confessed that his vision and mission of the Police was not visible when he gave the Police Force their score card. Mr Ade said “Let me say that few of you are still tarnishing the image of the Nigerian Police and our great MOPOL. Some of you are still busy extorting money from motorists. Some have been arrested for criminal activities. It is your job to identify and expose those of your colleagues who are tarnishing your image. Don’t hide them; they might implicate you if you don’t expose them” (Police News, vol 1. No.4, 2006, P.4). We have also seen cases where Police connive with criminals to dope the people they are supposed to be protecting because of the recruitment of people with doubtful character. Mr. Ade also said “we have also found out that our training programme, our recruitment policies have not been good enough to the extent that we recruited people with doubtful characters. We are thinking very much that we have to change our recruitment policies…” (Police News, Vol. 1, No. 3 January March, P.5). When we look at the level of Police brutality, the level of extortion of money, poor Police-community relations and poor attitude to work by many Police Officers you will agreed with me that many of the Officers and men are not part of the reformed Nigeria Police that the government envisaged and worked for. 351 Research Questions The research questions of the study include the following: 1. What is the image of reformed Nigeria Police before Nigerians? 2. What is the relationship between the Police and their host communities? 3. Are Officers and men of the Police living up to expectations in terms of the performance of their duties? 4. Are their negative implications for Police Officers as members of the Nigerian society? Objectives of the Study 1. To determine the image of the reformed Nigeria Police before Nigerians 2. To determine the relationship between the Police and their host communities 3. To determine whether the members of the Police Force are living up to the expectation of Nigerians in the performance of their duties. 4. To determine whether being members of the Nigerian society affect their job negatively. Significance of the Study 1. It will enhance the existing literature on the Police and the performance of their duties. 2. It will remind members of the Police Force that Nigerians are worried about their low job performance. Causes of Crime a. Crack in the Social Structure of the Society: Prominent sociologists like Emile Durkheim and Robert K. Merton and others had insisted that cracks in the social structure of the societies cause crime. That is every society breeds the type of criminal that it deserves. They often pity criminals as victims of their own societies’ structural error that is when things are not working well like the present political socio-economic and security challenges in Nigeria is capable of breeding criminals. For instance, suicide is a crime but many Nigerians are either contemplating committing suicide or actually committing suicide because of the socio-economic reality of present day Nigeria. Political assassination is mainly because of hand picking or imposition of candidates instead of allowing due democratic process, witch-hunting of more acceptable political opponents and winner takes all brand of politics. b. Deprivation: Deprivation is another cause of crime for instance in the Niger Delta Region Militant groups feel that the Federal Government of Nigeria and other international Police and crime control in Nigeria 352 organizations interested in the oil deposits in the Niger Delta Region deprive the indigenes of their entitlement to the oil deposits. This has resulted in the militants reacting to the deprivation of their mineral resources. Pitiable situation of the Ogoni people in the Niger Delta Region where Ken Sorowiwa and eight others were executed by the then Military Government of Ibrahim Babangida for resisting the deprivation of Ogoni mineral resources. c. Technological Development: Better techniques and weapons are produced which enhance better organization in launching criminal attacks. Computer crimes include software piracy involving theft, reproduction and marketing; financial fraud and embezzlement, theft via authorized or unauthorized access to computer systems; and sex-related crime, such as pornography. The majority of cases of advance fee fraud (419), counterfeiting, cyber crimes and money laundering, involve taking the advantage of modern technology. Modern technology provides individual offenders and criminal groups with easier access to systems, premises, goods and information; removes geographical obstacles to crime; increases the scale of bounty from criminal offences; maximize anonymity; and enhance the ability of offenders to avoid detection (Dambazau, 2006).Others include human trafficking, drug trafficking, money laundering. d. Emphasis on Accumulation of Property: For somebody to be regarded as a successful man in Nigeria the person must have built a befitting duplex house in his home town built houses in the urban areas and own fleet of cars (Aguene, 1999). The desire to be like others is the problem of some weak minded people. f. The Contact with Foreign Culture Increases the Rate of Crime: Many Nigerians have been executed in and outside Nigeria mostly in Moslem countries of Indonesia and Malaysia because of being drug peddlers dealing on cocaine and others. Some even deal on human parts of those they killed. Those who transact illegal businesses in South Africa even come to Nigeria to kill themselves to the embarrassment of Nigerians. g. In society where conspicuous display of material wealth, lavish spending, ostentatious living etc is the order of the day and typical of a capitalist system like Nigeria, one is not surprised that there are many cases of embezzlement, bribery, and corruption, smuggling, armed robbery, drug trafficking, kidnapping among Nigerians (Aguene, 1999). h. The prison itself is a school of crime: People who spend some time in prison come out with more techniques of crime than reformation. i. As social change occurs some people become frustrated: They cannot live up to expectation by owning cars, fridges and television sets etc. They now reject the societal means 353 of achieving success and go “underground” in order to succeed. They become either criminals or prostitutes in order to succeed or be like others. j. Unemployment is another factor in the sense that majority of the youths who move to urban areas are not skilled, or and are either semi-skilled or without skill at all. When they find out that the number of job applications far outnumber the job openings as a result many of them are not employed any way; having tasted some of the good things in the urban areas they will not want to go back to their respective villages. Odekunle (1986) observed that in cities, crime has generally been viewed as a phenomenon of youths with a yearly turnover and waxing harder as these youngsters emerge into a new phase of livelihood, from juvenile delinquency to adult criminality. k. Love could be a cause of crime because everything has time. For a teenager, unemployed or apprentice to keep a girl friend is a likely cause of crime because if you have a girl friend you must care for her whether you are working or not which will include buying gifts items for her, recharge cards, replacing her phone to a more modern one, organizing birth day parties for her on yearly bases and providing her with delicious meals etc. l. Desperation for husband by girls and women can cause crime: Some women who are in position of trust or those who handle money for their companies are often promised marriage by sugar tongued lover boys who promise to marry them if they can provide money for them to start business and marry them. Some boys have adopted this idiotic lifestyle as a means of livelihood. Causes of Juvenile Delinquency The Nigerian society is filled with evil practices like cheating, bribery and corruption, dishonesty, indiscipline, irresponsible leadership and embezzlement both by private and public individuals. Nigerian children are products of this ‘dirty’ environment. Deutsch (1950) observed that: The child grows up in a double world, faced with respect to attitudes toward law breaking. In the home, school and church, he is taught that honesty is the best policy that right makes rights, that justice is blindly equalitarian, that crime does not pay, that virtue triumphs over sin. In the world around him, he finds that race for prestige and profit often goes not to unscrupulous. He finds the notoriously dishonest enjoying the fruits of affluence in a society that puts premium on material status. Police and crime control in Nigeria 354 Delinquency could be a solution to psychological problems as a result of faulty family upbringing. Healy and Bronner (1936), from their findings they concluded that over 90 percent of delinquents compared to 13 percent of their non-delinquent siblings had unhappy home lives and felt discontented with their life circumstances. However, the nature of the unhappiness differs. In his own contribution Becker (1966), observed that the delinquent boys failed to internalize a set of moral values, apparently in part because of the absence of good role models in their fathers. The causes of juvenile delinquency are multiple and include per pressure, parental neglect, parent imitation, genetic or biological factor, poor education, lack of opportunities, media violence, poverty, divorce, child abuse, and other similar causes of adult criminal behaviour (Damvazau, 2006). Becker (1966), noted that the importance of delinquent contacts is that they enable the person to commit act he might otherwise feel uneasy about, without losing self-respect and pride. His friends may value him even if others do not. Delinquent subculture refers to a system of values, beliefs and practices encouraging the commission of delinquencies, awarding status in the basis of such acts, and specifying typical relationships to persons who fall outside the groupings governed by group norms. That is simple bad gang. The backgrounds of these delinquents often included signs of extreme rejection and lack of love. The Nigerian Police Force Northern and Southern Nigeria were amalgamated in 1914 but the Police Force was not merged until 1930 forming the NPF headquartered in Lagos. During the colonial period, most Police were associated with local government (native authorities). In the 1960s under the first republic these Forces were first regionalized and then nationalized. The modern Police Force was established by virtue of section 214(1) of the un-amended 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria entrusted with the powers to ensure the internal security of the country. “There shall be a Police Force for Nigeria which shall be known as the Nigerian Police Force and subject to the provisions of this sections, no other Police Force shall be established for the federation or any part thereof”. Vision Statement of the Nigerian Police: “Making the country safer and secured for the attainments of Nigerian aspiration”. Mission statement of the Nigerian Police: “To deliver qualitative and efficient security and law enforcement services to the citizens of Nigeria”. 355 Strategy:“Phased development of a three point agenda that captures the essence of the vision and mission. Duties of the Nigeria Police Force Essentially the duties of the Police Force as encapsulated in section 4 of the Police Act of 19672 are; a. The prevention and detection of crime, b. he protection of life and property, c. The apprehensions of offenders d. The preservation of law and order and e. The due enforcement of all laws and regulations with which they are directly charge In Nigeria, the criminal Investigation Department (CID) is the arm of the Police that investigates crime that are neither committed in the presence of the Police nor in the presence of private citizens. When the Police have sufficient evidence to believe that a suspect has breached the criminal code or law, the suspect is then reported to the criminal court. In a case where an accused is given a prison sentence, the Police take him to the prison where he is quartered and given a prison uniform (Onuchukwu, 2011). Police and crime control in Nigeria 356 Police Hierarchy The hierarchy of the Police makes it possible for the Police to be everywhere in Nigeria from Abuja to the remotest villages in Nigeria covering the entire 744 local government areas in Nigeria. From inspector general of Police down to the Deputy Inspector General of Police to Assistant Inspector General of Police in zones to commissioners of the Police down to area commanders to Divisional Police Officers and down to station Officers in some cases. The Government and the Nigerian Police Force The government has tried to overhaul the Police Force for efficient services like the following: a. The salaries of the Officers and men were more than doubled because of the then prevailing notion that the Police were under paid which Government also increased in 2018. b. The Government now stopped the recruitment of those with first school leaving certificate. The minimum entry qualification is now secondary school certificate with good grades. c. Some machines including computers, circuit cameras etc have been purchased and even vehicles for the efficient performance of the Police Force. d. Their work load has been reduced with the establishment of Federal Road Safety Commission, Civil Defense Corps and Department of Security Service (DSS) etc just to give room for efficiency. e. Funding: more funds have been given to the Police and they have direct allocation from the federal budget. f. The government also sponsors the training and retraining of the Nigeria Police Force for efficient performance of their duties. Ade (2007) noted about 50 Officers left for the U.S early in 2007 to undergo training in community policing. The training programme was organized by the Federal Government in conjunction with two U.S based organizations Arthur Foundation and Brown Group International. Many state governors encourage Police command in their states by providing cars for patrol by Police Officers, accommodation or even maintenance of existing structures like Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi State did. The Nigerian Police and Performance of their Duties It is interesting to note the observations of Nweze and Wapmuk (1992), regarding the relevance of the organization: Historically, the Nigeria Police represents the first Force employed by the Colonial Administration to control the people. Since then, the Police have been the most visible in Nigeria. They are seen in the streets and ever 357 present in all corners of the country. They get involved in the meanest and dirtiest jobs. They are called to intervene in family disputes, street brawls, deal with street crowd behaviours, deal with armed robbers, political thugs, supervise political campaigns and elections, religious riots, and are the first to be called in to attend to natural disasters. Bawley (1994) quoted in Ojukwu (2016) notes that Police organization are structured, authoritarian, para-military lines, regulated through strict organizational rules and regulations with an emphasis on internal and vertical communication. There is a premium on compliance other than initiative…decision making is rarely participative or collegial across rank lines. A mission statement for the Nigeria Police could read thus: The Nigeria Police believe that the people of Nigeria deserve and should receive the best of Police services available. The Nigeria Police believe that safety and security are among the basic rights to be enjoyed by citizens and residents of Nigeria. Without doubt, a safe and secure environment is a necessary pre-condition for the exercise of civil liberties and freedoms and the pursuit and exercise of legitimate goals and enterprise. In order to do this, the Nigeria Police will function as a responsive, responsible, humane and professional organization, and will strive at all times to render quality service to the generality of the people. The Nigeria Police shall subordinate itself to the will and wishes of the public. Aside from recruiting, training and deploying Officers, men and women to capture the diversities and interests of the Nigerian nation, the Nigeria Police will invite and accommodate partnerships with members and stakeholders of the various communities in which it serves. Apart from empowering all cadres of personnel to function maximally at their points of service, the Nigeria Police will adopt a proactive approach to problems and issues, by identifying the root causes of crime and social disorder, and in conjunction with the community members, proffer solutions to them. At all times and in all places, the Nigeria Police will be open, accessible and available to all and sundry; and be accountable and transparent in its services to the public. CP Lawrence Alobi, then head of the Police Command in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, had this reaction to a reported Police use of excessive Force on students of FCT College of Education Zuba, Abuja. “Police are not supposed to use live bullets on students. We are sorry for what has happened. What the students did was also wrong; but the excessive Force used by the Police was not necessary. The situation was not properly managed at all. It was not managed professionally” (Ojukwu, 2016). Disturbed by Lukewarm attitude of the Police towards arrangement of prison inmates’ to court years after arrest Nassarawa State Chief Judge Justice Suleiman Dikko has threatened to stop signing warrant of arrest for the Police unless the trend was reversed Vanguard Newspaper January 11, 2019. In a letter of complaint to the Public Complaints commission, lodged on 13th September, 2004, one Mallam A.R.K. wrote: Police and crime control in Nigeria 358 …I complained to the D. Police Station through one Sergeant A…R. that one person that I gave my motorcycle to operate Okada business refused to pay me some money he owed me, totaling N3, 900.00. When the money was recovered, Sergeant A.R. spent N1, 400.00. I approached him to pay me the money; he said he would pay me immediately he received his salary. When he collected the salary, I demanded for the money, but still he asked me to come during next salary, but still he refused to pay me the money. The New Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) in charge of Zone 7 Command Godwin Nwobodo admitted that kidnapping and robbery in the area were becoming a source of embarrassment but will soon become a thing of the past as his command would move to fight the war to the finish. The loss of public respect and confidence in the Police as well as inability to effectively tackle crimes in the most ethical and professional manner have been widely attributed to the challenge of corruption within the policing system – (IGP Arase, 2015). Police-Community Relations In a more sociological and philosophical sense according to Manning (1991) community represents a sense of integration that people wish, hope and envision as being a central part of their collective lives. Where such integrated communities exist, people share a sense of ownership and pride in their environment. They also have a sense of what is acceptable behaviour, which makes policing in such a community easier, as noted by Mastrofski (1991). Community policing involves an interactive process of developing closer working relations between the police and the community so as to identify and solve community problems together (Ojukwu, 2016).The increasing sophiscation of the form and nature of crime according to Eze (2011) in the 21stcentury has posed a great challenge to policing. And attempts to contain these challenges have created the need for the introduction of best practices to the job of policing. According to Kinsley, Lea and Young in Haralambos and Holbon (2004). The key to Police success lies in improving the relationship with the community so that the flow of information on which the Police rely increases. That is to say that irrespective of other basic trainings, the realization that information flow from the public remains a crucial factor which must be sank into the consciousness of any Police Officer. There is need for training and retraining among the rank and file of the Police Force. The new orientation must primarily target at changing the attitudinal disposition of the Nigeria Police Force to be friendly Eze (2011). In their own contribution Haralambos and Holbon (2004) noted that the Police should be trained in way that their behaviour and not just inscription on 359 their vans reflect its community service orientations, anchored on friendliness, mutual co- operation and trust as its foundation. The lack of trust from the community on the Nigerian Police has been a major hindering factor towards efficient policing since the Police depend on information from the public. Oji (2007) noted that training and manpower development will serve to boost the capacity of the Officers and men of the Nigerian Police Force but then there are bound to be certain intervening variables which could make or mar the training and manpower development efforts. The presence or absence of these factors will go a long way in determining the extent to which the training and manpower development efforts can achieve. One of these variables is community relations. In their own contribution Kingsley, Lea and Young (2004) noted that the training efforts of the Nigeria Police Force should now be towards reinforcing their public relations skills. They are of the opinion that the breakdown in trust between the Police and some section of the public leads to a drying up of the flow of information from communities. Lacking information that is necessary to solve crime, the Police resort to other policing method. They drift towards what the trio called military policing. According to Haralambos and Holton (2004) research shows that public confidence in the Police declined to ensure optimal performance of the Nigeria Police Force, the erosion of public confidence must be halted, and trust must be entrenched as the foundation for Police- Community Relations. To the extent that members of the public get, scared of reprisal from criminals while considering volunteering information to the Police to that extent policing will remain an uphill task. Adamu Ciroma (2002) a former minister of finance of Nigeria reacted to the issue of Police community relations by noting that communities should be given the opportunity to participate in crime control they know the criminals themselves, as they live with them and at the same time they are at the receiving ends of the activities of these criminals. He pointed out that the communities would yield positive results as it has achieved in many areas, so the Police cannot function effectively without the co-operation of the members of the host communities. The community and the Police depend on each other. The common motto “to serve and protect” suggests a target population individuals requiring service and protection. Community policing changes that traditional approach b bringing Police Officers back into the community, Police and crime control in Nigeria 360 neighbourhoods to talk with residents about what they want and how they can lawfully accomplish their goals together (Onuchukwu 2011). Tamuno (1970) states, Police-community relations in crime control are a two way affair. It is more or less a give and take arrangement since the Police receives information from the members of the community for their investigation and in turn offers protection to the members of the community. There is a significant relationship between the Police and the community with respect to crime control. This implies that the communities have an important role to play in the reduction as well as combating of crime in the community. They could do this by giving information to the Police about crimes and criminals in the community, by generating and equipping their vigilante group in the community for proper functioning. Then on the other hand, the Police should in turn protect the concerned community members who gave them information also treat the information with utmost secrecy and above all, act on the information they receive from the public. The state of Police-community relations is not cordial. The community finds it difficult to accept the Police as their friend and feel safe to give them information as required from them. It follows that a lot of things need to be done by the Police to better her image before the community. The community knows the members of the community and could easily identify the bad eggs among them. Most of the problems that result in the community have roots known to the community members. It becomes imperative that Police as strangers in a community should liaise with the members of the community where they are posted. If there is understanding between the community and the Police then the work of policing is minimized. In this case you do not need many Policemen and women to Police a community after all security business is everybody’s business. With good understanding the community before anything happens they reach the Police to inform them which Police can now turn into intelligence report. The Mass Media and the Police Chief of Army Staff General Tukur Buratai when referring to the media on Monday 24th December Daily Sun emphasized that the media play a vital role in security and national development. While Army fights with guns to protect the society, the media fight with your pens to do the same. Consequently, fighting without one another can be compared to fighting 361 with one hand tied behind your body…the war against terrorism should be a collective responsibility for all and not just a war between the army and the terrorist group”. The media played very important role in the war against terrorists in Nigeria. In the same vain the media often provide clue about criminals that enable the Police to catch criminals. For instance, in the Police tracking down a notorious armed robber Shina Rambo in 1992. The media described his identity which turned out to be useful to the Police in tracking him down. Rambo was described as a dare-devil king pin, slim, dark and average height, possessing two tribal marks one on each check characteristic of indigenes of Akure town (Sambe, 2005)cited in Noun 2018 with the description it was easy for the Police to catch him. Sambe (2005) cited in Noun 2018 in underscoring the surveillance function of the press on crime noted that in 1986, two gangsters emerged from the crime scene in Nigeria namely Lawrence Anini and Monday Osunbor. The press in living up to its responsibilities as surveillance for society kept on beaming search light on the activities of the duo until they were arrested with some of their collaborators. Much of the security challenges that have come up are associated with misinformation, disinformation and lack of credible intelligence, Shuaib 2019 who also noted that while the military can claim to have strong weapon, with their guns and bombs, the media actually possesses stronger weapons, with their pens and keyboards, in changing mindset, engaging in psychological warfare, strengthening the fighting of troop, boost the confidence of citizens and weakening the moral of theorists. The same thing could be said of the Police because both are into security service while the Police is for internal security the military is for mainly external security though internally when the need calls for it. Influence of Politicians The corruption in the Police is more or less a reflection of the decay in the larger society. The truth is that when the society is bad then the Police in it will also be bad. At times the different arms of the government influence the duties of Police Officers negatively some even use them as domestic servants. For instance, when one time Attorney General and Minister of Justice Lateef Jakande was assassinated an accused person gave a confessional statement about his involvement and others and even those who sent them but the then Federal Government of the day took the person to psychiatry hospital and claimed that he was mentally sick. The claim of the Federal Government rubbished Police investigation and that ended the matter. Police and crime control in Nigeria 362 Daily Sun Monday December 24th 2018 alleged that two weeks after the arrest of their reporter in the Kebbi state. The Police on the orders of Kebbi State Government arrested the correspondent over an online publication about the abduction of a chieftain of the PDP in the state. The reporter was charged with one count charge of disseminating wrongful information by the APC led government. He was arranged in court without a defense lawyer. The government claimed that the delay was from the Kebbi State Ministry of Justice. Wealthy and influential people at times seek the co-operation of the Police to torture their enemies. Inspector General of Police (IGP) wears a political cap. It is said that he who pays the piper dedicates the tune of the music. According to Ojukwu (2016) it was reported that the first indigenous president of Nigeria, the Rt. Hon. Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe was prevented by the Police from holding a lawful political rally in Maiduguri, Borno State during the Second Republic. Political influence was fingered in this bizarre episode that embarrassed the then IGP Sunday Adewusi in a Council of State meeting chaired by President Shehu Shagari. According to Daily Sun Monday January 14, 2019 p.5 Force Public Relations Officer, Jimoh Moshuod, denied speculations that the Police were deliberately holding Dino Melaye to prevent him from contesting the senatorial election in his zone. The truth is that it is not the Police that it holding him, it is the law that is holding him. The truth is that the Federal Government has used the Police several times against Dino Meylaye. The government is accusing his thugs of wounding Sergeant Danjuma on July 19, 2018.When Police sent him to DSS hospital he refused to enter the hospital but rather stayed outside the hospital for fear of being injected with poisonous substance. The Nigeria Police and the Performance of their Duties in the Eyes of the Public Section 370 (first schedule) of the Police Regulations sets out a number of offences against which a serving Police Officer may be called to question and be sanctioned. Disciplinary offences captured in the First Schedule of the Police Regulations which pertain to senior Officers are: i. Absence from duty ii. Breach of confidence iii. Corrupt practice iv. Discreditable conduct v. Disobedience to orders vi. Drunkenness vii. Falsehood or prevarication 363 viii. Improper conduct ix. Insubordinate or oppressive conduct x. Neglect of duty xi. Unlawful and unnecessary exercise of authority. How far are they observing these rules is the problem because the way some of them behave show that they don’t even know about the existence of this rules. The truth is that the Nigerian Police Force despite the attempt by the Federal Government of Nigeria to reform and reposition the Nigerian Police Force. They fall below expectation in the performance of their duty in the eyes of majority of Nigerians. The Nigerian Police is still suffering from colonial legacy. The effects are still being felt today. According Alemika (1998): Historical evidence demonstrate that the colonial Police Forces were organized and oriented to behave as occupation forces, ruthless, brutal, corrupt, dishonest and prone to brutalizing the colonized people and vandalizing their properties…the preoccupation of colonial and post- colonial Nigeria Police were not the promotion and enforcement of just laws, rule of law, natural justice and equity and security of the vast majority of Nigerians, as colonial surrogates often claimed…the greatest part of the Police energies and resources were committed to, and dissipated on, the suppression of struggles and protests against oppression and exploitation, the large scale theft and mismanagement of the public wealth by those who controlled the economy and state apparatus. In his own contribution Odike (2018) noted that unfortunately with regard to the performance of their duties, instead of clapping, one can confidently charge the Nigeria Police Force with sundry offences shortcomings. These range from chronic corruption, unparallel inefficiency to outright brutality. The viral load of Nigeria Police Corruption, inefficiency and incivility is so high and it seems for now that no anti-retro viral government Police can help revert its load of problems particularly incivility and corruption. This has heightened in several quarters, the call for the establishment of state Police Force in Nigeria as a cure for its state inefficiency. Ade (2007) noted unfortunately however, back home, the Force’s hard worn international reputation has been belittled by unwavering image crisis bordering on allegations of inefficiency, corruption, lack of capacity to, or commitment for combating crimes, abuse of power, impunity, high handedness and a host of other forms of misconduct. Ogbe (1999) in his contribution paints the picture of the Nigeria Police Force helpless in the presence of criminal Police and crime control in Nigeria 364 activities. He state that “the seeming helplessness of the Nigerian Police to the complexity and sophistication in the manner in which armed robbers operate in the country, leave Nigerians at the mercy of these miscreants. This is utterly pathetic”. Considering the obvious inabilities of Police Force to wage a successful war against criminals, one will not be mistaking to ask, why have the Police failed so woefully? Many reasons have been given by different scholars for this failure. Eze (2009) in his own contribution noted that even their appearance in tattered uniforms and shoes and their resultant penchant for the pretended N20 naira “offering” makes a mockery of the image of Nigerian Police. Hence, a disillusioned naughty observer once described the Nigeria Police as “high way beggars.” Are these the type of Police anybody can be proud of? The Federal Government increased the salaries of members of Police Force which make majority of them appear neat now unlike before but have moved from collecting N20 note to N50 naira note. Many Nigerians lives in perpetual fear according to Daily Sun on Monday, December 24th 2018 a woman residing in Umunze expressed fear on the state of insecurity in the community, which is a border town between Imo and Abia States: “The Police are not doing anything to help us. The Police station is close to the market, yet when the kidnappers abducted a woman in the market, the Police did not respond. The worst is that the victim used her phone throughout her captivity, yet the Police could not use that to track the kidnapper’s den. It is confusing and at the same time unbelievable. But, that is where we have found ourselves now. We need help and urgently too.” The Police should have used the phone number to track the location where the woman was kept. At times some bad members of the Police Force engage in evil practices against the community which they are supposed to serve. This week magazine puts it this way that Anini Saga was a total collaboration within the gang members and some bad element in the Police Force. The Police gave him information, sold him weapons and shared in his loot in perfect symbiosis. An Assistant Superintendent of Police George Iyamu was the leader of the Police group involved in the crime though, he was executed alongside with criminals. Some members of Police Force compromise their integrity because of earthly things in kind or cash from the members of the society. Members of the community are at times tortured by the Police to get the type of information that the Police want that is why we hear at times that people gave 365 statement under durex. At times Police Officers engage themselves in jobs that are outside their schedule of duty with the sole aim of extorting money and intimating members of public. SARS before the reformation they became so zealous about money and intimation that they were moving in and out of streets, compounds and houses like monkeys in the forest in attempt to get people to extort money and torture members of the public who delay in raising huge amount of money for bail and forgiveness of their sins. However, luck ran out of them when the Federal Government got wing of their evil activities and ordered that they should stick to armed robbery and kidnapping which was their original assignment before they became wild. Carelessness of the Police in handling key witnesses many times key witnesses die while in detention and it becomes difficult for the case to continue like in the Offa Robbery incident which linked some thugs of the Senate President Dr. Bukola Saraki and the Governor of Kwara State. They key accused person died in the detention according to the Police and that’s why they could not bring him to court (Daily Sun, 2019). Poor Police community relations: Intimation of community members make them to stay away from the Police. The experiences of those who come close to Policemen or visited local Police stations for one thing or the other are not encouraging. For instance, those who go to make entries to the Police stations are intimated by trying to prove to them that they are wrong and start counting charges against them that only payment of certain amount of money will set them free which they at times compelled to pay that amount of money that is why you can hear somebody of about fifty to seventy years saying that he or she had never been to Police station in his or her life that he avoids Police Officers like leprosy patients. Police stations are not friendly places to visit because they create fear in the minds of the community members who they are supposed to serve. The Police in modern Nigeria, Tamuno (1993) states that the modern Police, for Nigeria does not live up to expectations due to the poor relations it has with the community it is meant to serve. In his words, “the image of the Nigeria Police is bad”. To the society, the Police is an enemy, an agent of oppression and perpetrator of injustice, and a mass of gluttons whose stock in trade is bribery and corruption. Consequent upon the battered image of the Police, Tamuno (1993) argues that members of the public have lost confidence in the Police and as a result find it difficult to assist the Police. The public neither report criminals with questionable characters who also make suspicious movements to the Police. Even when the Police are conducting an Police and crime control in Nigeria 366 investigation, members of the public most times fine it extremely difficult to open up when they are asked questions. The Police engage in reactive policing when information is given they react on the basis of the information instead of first of all investigating whether the allegation is true or false. Even if the allegation is true it is the magistrate or judge who will confirm the allegation while at the Police Station the person is still a suspect and should not be given the punishment meant for criminals. Conclusion Security is everybody’s business therefore criminals are against the Nigerian Nation and not just members of the Police Force. Corruption in the Nigerian Police is a reflection of corruption in the Nigerian society with intelligent report and co-operation of the community members Police will be everywhere. Nigerians do not differentiate the bag eggs from the genuine Police Officers rather they are fond of condemning the entire Police Force as brutal, exploitative and wicked minded which even make an average Police Officer believe that the public they serve hate them. The public should understand that the Police are members of the wider Nigerian society which is corrupt and crazy for materialism. They say that respect is reciprocal the public should endeavour to respect Police Officers which on the other hand the Police will respect the public which will then give way to smooth Police-community relations after all security is everybody’s business. It takes two to tango. The community members at times give money to the Police even without demanding for it to make them compromise their integrity. The Police many times present a reactive rather than preventive strategy against crime. That is they show reaction or response instead of normal investigation. Where there are good Police-community relations before any crime takes place in a community the members of the community will inform the Police which they turn into intelligent report. With intelligent report and co-operation of the community Police will be everywhere. The Police create fear in the minds of the community members who visit Police stations for one thing or the other. The Federal Government did little to train and retrain Officers and men of the Police Force to keep them abreast of the modern form of policing. The operational vehicles and other logistics for combating crime are inadequate. At times criminals use better arms and ammunition than Police Officers. 367 Police service delivery is evidently measured by the perception of the public and her attitude to the Police. A servant that delivers good dividends to his master is commended as faithful, while the slothful and careless is dubbed as wicked. For Police to score high on service delivery and remain relevant in a democracy, it must identify and be identified with the concerns and priorities of the community (Ojukwu, 2016). Police image is further worsened when Officers get involved in duties outside the scope allowed by law. It is an irony that the Policecannot execute its full statutory work load, yet it is interested in carrying out tasks not assigned to it by law (Ojukwu, 2016).In Nigeria, the Police are seen as the most corrupt part of the system. An ICPC (Independent Corrupt Practices Commission) Survey Report in 2004 reads “many participants agreed with survey finding that Police are most corrupt public employees”. Even those who interact with Police go behind to say that they hatePolice.Membership of Police Community Relations Committee (PCPC) is a prized privilege and a ticket out of trouble. How many of them can give Police Officers pass mark at their back? We will like to end our conclusion of this paper by re-emphasizing what Sir Robert Peel contributed to the Metropolitan Police Art of 1829 in England as summarized by Champion and Rush 1997 and quoted by Ojukwu 2016. He charged the Police to: i. Prevent crime and disorder as an alternative to military repression; ii. Recognize that the power of the police is dependent upon public approval and respect; iii. Seek and preserve public favour by constantly demonstrating absolute impartial service to law; iv. Maintain at all times a relationship with the public that gives reality to the historic tradition that the police are the public and the public are the police. Our conclusion that the Nigerian Police Force have failed in the performance of their duties is because the Police could not pass any one of the listed four charges which are the basic requirements for efficient policing. Recommendations Lawyers and human right groups should be allowed to visit suspects and interact with them. This will enable them make case for those who had been unjustly delayed more than necessary. There should be mechanism for checking the excesses of subordinatesbecause at times Police and crime control in Nigeria 368 subordinates work for their own interest without the supervising Officers knowing that people under them are abusing the rights of community members. There is the need for awareness campaign because most of the people who are intimated do not know their rights. With this, they should be able to assess the services of civil right organizations to stop undue extortion of money and unnecessary intimation.Computers, circuit cameras and gazettes should be used during the interrogation of suspects to avoid torturing suspects to accept what they did not do.Police stations should be made more friendly with the members of the community whom they serve. There is the need to correct the impression offear of extortion by the public. Government should seriously look into the high level of corruption in the PoliceForce. Adequate training and retraining of the Police on the ethics of their profession should be done. The salaries and gratuityof the Police should be reviewed upwards to serve as incentives and discourage them from taking bribes, then introduce stringent punitive measures to those who default. There should be a detailed account of Police efforts to stamp out crime in each community, instead of waiting for crime to take place before responding. Also there should be constant raiding of criminals by combing all the criminal hid-outs and black spots in every community.The Police should show respect, accountability and transparency in dealing with the community which they serve. Some criminals who enter PoliceForce to become licensedarmed robbers like late ASP Gorge Iyamu should be fished out and send to prison where they belong through due process. The Vanguard newspaper of January 30, 2007: Pay rise will not stop Police extortion because the senior Officers will continue to tamper with their salaries…the rank and file in the PoliceForce are suffering in the hands of their bosses. New pay for Police, no matter how high cannot end extortion because a thief is a thief anytime. The top shots encourage junior ones to do it. Until the top is totally overhauled, extortion cannot end. New pay for Police can reduce extortion but it cannot end it. It’s only re-orientation that can help. There is need to sensitize the Police on the need to have respect for human life and to exercise utmost restraint in dealing with citizens so as not take human life unnecessarily. The practice of killing armed robbery and other suspects by the Police before they are tried formally in a court of competent jurisdiction is unlawful and should be stopped. Any 369 Officers found to be involved in such summary executions should be tried for the offence. 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