Police and money

Hardball

Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Mohammed Adamu misses the point by thinking that the solution to the problem of insecurity is throwing money at it. He listed the requirements of the police at a public hearing organised last week by the House of Representatives Committee on Police Affairs on ‘Repositioning the Nigeria Police for an Enhanced Service Delivery.’

The IGP, who was represented at the event by the Deputy Inspector-General of Police (Operations), Abdulmajid Ali, said the Force needed more personnel, not less than 1,000 Armoured Personnel Carriers, and 250,000 assault rifles with corresponding ammunition, to effectively police the country.

He also said the police needed 2,000,000 tear gas canisters and smoke grenades, 200,000 riot gunners and smoke pistols, 1,000 tracking devices, and 774 operational drones, among others.

Of course, these requirements will cost money, almost N1tn, according to the police boss. Specifically, the police authorities are asking for N944, 856,416,800 to combat rising insecurity across the country.

It’s easy to ask for money. What is the guarantee that police performance will improve with the funds?

Hardball and the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law are on the same page concerning the police proposal. The group said in a statement:  “The IGP should provide concrete answers to the following: how many rifles, APCs and related weapons and ammunitions, as well as personnel are there in the Nigeria Police Force? Where are they? Are the rifles and related weapons safely or porously managed? Are they being used for purposes they are legally meant for or illegally used for motley of ‘service crimes and atrocities’ such as being used in aiding ‘religious and economic terrorist activities’ and high profile street and roadway criminalities, i.e., kidnappings?

“Are the weapons and personnel truly used for securing generality of the citizens or for sundry roadway crimes such as extortion? Is it correct to say that many of these weapons and personnel are channelled into protection of the so-called VIPs and corporate establishments such as banks and multinational companies, all done in return for payment of billions of naira monthly, which never reflect in any police budget except in private pockets or coffers?”

The point is that the police need to show how well they have used what they have. It’s too easy to suggest that they could do better  with  what they don’t have. More importantly, the police need to reimagine their role and reinvent the police force.