The Nigerian Police Force ranked as worst in the world: How true?
The Nigerian police was recently ranked as the worst performing police force in the world. The result was drawn from the World Internal Security and Police Index (WISPI) for 2016 which was compiled by the International Police Science Association in conjunction with the Institute for Economics and Peace.
But before we get carried away by the result made available by these two bodies, and paint ourselves as being ‘unfair’, it is expedient that we take a brief look at the factors that influenced this result. The performances were measured based on the trends that were attainable from the areas of internal security and policing; capacity; process and legitimacy and outcomes. As the result turned out, the Nigerian police force scored very low in all these areas, and that in turn pushed it down the pecking order. The report considered data obtained from the research carried out on the forces of 127 different nations across the world.
Now, let us relate the result to what we do observe in our different communities. Firstly, in regards to internal security and policing which was particular hinged on terrorism; the Nigerian police performed worst when compared to those of other nations. While it might be impossible to stop men from being evil as the nation witnessed incessant acts of terrorist attacks in the past few years, it is obvious that the police have not been dynamic enough in developing up-to-date strategies that help in grappling the tenacious terrorists- most notably, the Boko Haram group- that seemed to be advancing in its operation leaving the police in the dust prior to the intervention of the military. This, in a way could be a direct consequence of the limited resources that are available for the force to work with. For instance, the report shows that the NPF has 219 police officers to cater for the security needs of 100,000 citizens- a figure which falls far below the index’s standard of 300 officers for that same number of citizens.
The Nigerian Police Force also passed up the chance of bettering their ranking in the aspect of process and legitimacy where some factors [such as the use of force for private gain, bribery, effectiveness in ensuring criminal justice, and adherence to due process] were put under review. The result in these areas only highlighted what we have always witnessed as the abuse of ‘uniform power’ on day-to-day basis. With all these, have come the increased number of individuals that have been victimized by varying degree of crimes as the police, according to the report, have not been able to effectively protect the citizens.
The Nigerian Police Force [through its spokesman, Jimoh Moshood] has since come out to reject the ranking , stressing that the Nigeria police remains the best on the African continent- a position that WISPI has accorded to the Botswani Police Force- and making reference to the positions it occupies in United Nations’ peace-keeping missions and its standing at Interpol. Inasmuch as the hierarchy of the NPF might not take this lightly, I believe the Nigerian Police Force still need to make moves towards purging its system of inherent ‘little foxes’ that are not projecting its image in good light, and that can only begin by knowing and accepting the truth. Moreover, there is no pride in trying to make a ‘bad’ situation look good without having the mind to seek workable solutions towards making things better. The jury is out already, and maybe the Nigeria Police Force is not the worst in the world; it is yet nowhere near being the best- there lies a need for an upgrade. As there is no smoke without a fire; this ranking has not come about based on hearsay so, the NPF ought to make stringent moves to quell the flames of ineptitude [within its rank], and also free itself from the pungency of the smoke that has evolved…denial does not change fact in any way.