The Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, has ordered the immediate withdrawal of all Mobile Police Officers serving very important persons (VIPs) or performing unauthorized duties as part of measures to reorganize the Police Mobile Force (PMF). The directive was issued after Egbetokun met with PMF Squadron Commanders, at the Force Headquarters in Abuja. According to Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO), ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, the police chief restated an earlier directive for the withdrawal of operatives from unauthorized deployments.
The IGP emphasized the need to reposition the PMF in line with its original mandate as the Nigeria Police Force’s elite strike unit, designed to respond swiftly to riots, emergencies and violent threats. The police boss is particularly worried that the PMF personnel have been diverted to non-core roles, including escort and guard duties for private individuals and VIPs, a trend which has undermined the unit’s effectiveness.
It is worth pointing out that Egbetokun’s directive on the withdrawal of PMF from VIPs is not entirely new. His predecessors did a similar thing without achieving much. Using PMF for non-core police duties is not new. It has indeed become part of our policing system. Some of them even look forward for such duties which are said to be highly rewarding with less hazards. However, reorganizing the Nigeria Police Force for more effectiveness is a welcome development that must be supported by the government and other major stakeholders.
Rather than dissipate much energy on the withdrawal of the PMF from VIPs, which not much can be achieved, the IGP should begin to work on increasing the numerical strength of the normal police force as part of measures to reorganize the force. With the present 370,000 police personnel securing the lives of over 200 million Nigerians, the country cannot be said to be adequately policed. Egbetokun should work hard to increase the number of the nation’s police personnel to at least one million in the next couple of years. The United Nations’ recommended ratio is one police officer to almost 450 citizens. For Nigeria to meet this threshold, Nigeria should increase its annual police recruitment from 10,000 to 20,000 per year.
Egbetokun should begin to embrace multi-layer policing rather the current centralized policing system which does not augur well for a federation like ours. He must work with the state governors with a view of having other layers of policing including state policing and community policing as well. The discourse about state policing should not be closed in view of the rising security challenges across the country. Beyond the issue of multi-layer policing across the country, the IGP must frontally address the issue of welfare and remuneration of police personnel.
Unfortunately, our policemen are among the worst paid and the worst equipped in the world. Most of them are shabbily dressed. They are easily compromised with offer of bribes. Corruption is also rife in the police. Egbetokun should rid the force of bad eggs and ensure that morally upright young officers are recruited into the force during its annual recruitment exercise. Our policing system should profit from the policing system of the United States, United Kingdom and Canada. In all these countries, they are different layers of policing, which make their policing systems very effective and efficient. Egbetokun should go for a policing model that will guarantee security to all Nigerians and not a few VIPs.
Therefore, we call on the 36 state governors and other stakeholders to renew the call for the establishment of state police as part of measures to tackle the growing insecurity in all parts of the country. We say so because every crime is local. It takes only the participation of the local people in one area to overcome its security challenges because they know the terrain very well.
We cannot fully dislodge the bandits, terrorists and other criminals without the involvement of the local people in the security architecture of the country. The existence of local security outfits such as Hisbah in Kano State, Amotekun in the South-West and EbubeAgu in Ebonyi, and Imo and lately Agunaechemba in Anambra, amply justify the need for state police. Nigeria is long overdue for state police.