More than one year after the country witnessed widespread protests over rampant police bestiality, it is still business as usual in the Nigerian Police Force. OMOBOLA TOLU-KUSIMO reports that the situation is so bad that some police personnel confessed that they often go to work with a mentality to make money and not how to burst or curb crime.
It was, no doubt, a daring move that sought to cure the ailing soul of their maligned profession, but it ended in tears for the organisers. That was last month, when news broke that there would be a nationwide industrial action by police personnel. As a prelude to the unusual event, organisers of the supposed industrial action announced a two-week warning strike. Their grouses: poor working conditions, poor salaries, lack of genuine welfare and outdated weapons, among other complaints.
As expected, the police management swiftly moved against the ringleaders. At last, the careers of two inspectors, five sergeants and two constables bit the dust. The nine men were dismissed from service following their orderly room trial for planning and coordinating a strike within the ranks and file of the police. They were said to have been traced and subsequently arrested after their phone calls were tracked.
The dismissed nine policemen are: AP/No. 245800 – Insp Nanoll Lamak; AP/ NP 287568 – Insp Amos Nagurah; F/No. 271367 – Sgt Onoja Onuche; F/No. 442680 – Sgt Franklin Agughalau; F/No. 495378 – Sgt Emmanuel Isah F/No. 508168 – Sgt Adesina Ismail; F/No. 508282 – Sgt Osoteku Ademola; F/No. 525839 – Police Constable Ehighamhen Favour Ebele and F/No. 528222 – Police Constable Ubong Inem.
They have since been de-kitted, ejected from their police accommodation, and their names deleted from IPPIS payroll. However, the issues that brought them doom were part of what sparked an unprecedented crisis for weeks in 2020, with widespread demonstrations embarked upon by young Nigerians almost birthing far-reaching reforms concerning civil-police relations. That was October 2020 when #EndSARS protests against rampant police brutality rocked the country, forcing the youth to demand an end to the notoriously ruthless police unit then known as Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS).
More than one year after, many Nigerians believe the police remain largely the same, despite purported reforms that followed the protests. The federal government, obviously moved by the widespread demonstrations, also reached some concessions with the protesters, including setting up of judicial panels of inquiry by state governments to look into cases of alleged violations of human rights by the disbanded SARS and other units of the police.
But alas, the police checkpoints have returned. So are unprofessional misdemeanours and outright excesses on the part of bad eggs among the nation’s law enforcement agents. A recent case in point that showed that it is business as usual happened in Ketu, Lagos. The encounter between a businesswoman and a policeman goes thus: “Hey madam, stop the car…Wind down your glass,” said a policeman on duty on Ketu overhead bridge at a checkpoint in February 2021. After the woman parked and wound down her window, the officer beggarly said, “e fun mi l’owo ki nfi j’eun,” meaning give me money to eat.
Infuriated by the action of the policeman, the woman, Mrs. Esther Obi, chided him. “Officer, what you have just done is wrong. You mean you stopped me just to ask me to give you money to eat,” she queried. “You just sounded like a beggar, desecrating our Nigerian police uniform. You don’t even care whether I am a foreigner. Is this how you portray the country to foreigners? This is bad,” she added.
Mrs. Obi was not alone in this ugly experience from Nigeria’s law enforcement agents. In January 2021, Mr. David Adeyemi, an accountant, approached a roadblock mounted by some policemen. As he slowed down, he watched to know if they would ask him to park or not. Rather than stop him politely, one of them used his gun to hit the body of his car, shouting “Hey you…stop there.”
“Why did you not stop,” he asked as he moved towards Mr. Adeyemi. “I was waiting to know if you will ask me to stop or not,” said Adeyemi. Officer started smiling and said…” Okay, give us money. Your boys are here,” he said. “Aren’t you going to check my vehicle particulars,” Adeyemi asked?
“Leave particulars, oga. All we want is money. Give your boys money,” he exclaimed. Adeyemi expressed his displeasure and said… “Officer, you just hit my car with your gun. And then you ask me for money. This is part of why Nigerians protested against police that led to the mishap from #EndSARS. Nobody will expect that you will still behave in the manner you just did when #EndSARS destruction to the country is still stirring us all in the face. I do not want to encourage your behaviour nor compensate it; hence I will not give you any money. I insist you check my vehicle particulars and let me go,” he said.
The officer eventually let Adeyemi go, having realised he was one of the citizens who know their rights. This is the story of many Nigerians who come across the police at various checkpoints on a daily basis, including the youth. It was many of these kinds of unprofessional behaviours on the part of policemen that got young Nigerians angry in 2020 leading to protests that almost brought the country to its knees. While this is a far cry from what their counterparts in other developing countries do, it appears that the police officers in Nigeria have refused to learn from the mistakes that led to #EndSARS crisis in October 2020.
Police officer recounts ordeals of colleagues
The Nation spoke exclusively with some policemen under the condition of anonymity. Luckily, some of them bared their minds. Sanni Bello, an inspector, said he is distressed daily by the situation he finds himself. He said he is not happy that he would wake up in the morning, get to work with a mentality of how he will make money and not how he will burst or curb crime. He revealed that this is how he and many of his colleagues reason every day.
“I am an inspector and I earn N90,000. I buy my uniform and some other working tools. As it is, the system does not support you if you want to be a good cop. I am pained that we have to suffer. There are so many things that are wrong. This is why I cannot live in the barracks because I do not want my children to grow in such environment. More so, the buildings are distressed and they can collapse at any time.
“When you see policemen looking dirty and haggard, it is because they cannot sew a new uniform for themselves as they usually do. If you know you want to look good and clean, you have to sew your uniform by yourself. The last time I was issued a uniform was in 2002 and I was issued because I was working at the headquarters.
“Those on the field, divisions and others do not get uniforms. We buy them by ourselves. But if you want to wait for the government to issue you one, you will wait forever while you look dirty. I have spent 22 years in service and I have only been issued uniform twice, the first one when I was in the college and the second when I was working at the headquarters.”
When asked where they sew their uniform, he said: “We buy and sew our uniforms from the barracks or police store around Mobolaji Bank Anthony, Lagos. It belongs to the police and it is where they are supposed to be issuing us the uniform at no cost. But unfortunately, we are made to pay from our pockets. Tell me how we will not look for money from the public by all means?
“Presently, the camouflage is available for us to buy in the barracks. I have about six uniforms which cost me over N60,000. Yet I earn a meagre salary of N90,000. The police authority has taught us to seek money from the public and that is what is causing the tension between us and the people. Also, my housing allowance is just about N5000 per month. The salary increase that was announced during and after #EndSARS by President Muhammadu Buhari is yet to be paid to us. It is pathetic.
“Imagine, a constable earns between N45,000 and N48,000; an inspector earns between N90,000 and N140,000 while a DPO depending on his rank as Chief Superintendent of Police or Superintendent of Police does not earn up to N250,000 naira monthly.”
The officer, who said nothing has changed with their welfare since #EndSARS, maintained that they are still doing everything that led to the crisis in October 2020. “What broke the camel’s back that led to #EndSARS were majorly the extrajudicial killings, which is still happening. There is unprofessionalism among the police. Some of us drink at work and some to stupor. These are mistakes that we do while on duty that have led to deaths of citizens.”
Speaking on the change he would like to see happen in the police force, he said: “First of all, we need to dress well and look good because when we look attractive, the people will receive us better. Secondly, we need to be trained and retrained. Many of us need to go for counselling. After the #EndSARS, we were subjected to go for psychiatric evaluation, which we did. Although we are not shown our results, we went for the test. Many of us are very hostile to the members of the public, which makes them to be hostile to us in return.
“I believe that what you give is what you get. When you are not doing your job, people will complain and get angry. Sometimes, the hostility we get from people hinders our job. For instance, we receive information that somebody wants to transport arms in an area and we move to condone off the area and make arrest. The residents in the area will engage us and block us from effecting the arrest out of ignorance of the crime. They do this because they don’t trust us. Honestly, our job has become much endangered and our lives are more endangered than before and we are finding difficult it to do our job well.”
On the issue of checking people’s phones, he said: “This brings me to the aspect of phone checking. We believe that you are your phone and your phone is you. I don’t need to tell you that I’m a police officer if you check my phone. You will know that I am one but we have abused this phone strategy. When we stop to search anybody or suspect crime, the first thing some of us check is the account balance of the suspect. If they find any offence a suspect commits, they will negotiate with him or her, which is very wrong and it is giving us a bad name. But the truth is that we have unravelled and discovered many criminal activities by checking phones.
“I think there is need for public sensitisation and awareness for the people to really understand how we work so that when they see us, we do not become endangered species. We are not all bad and Nigerians cannot do without us. We have our good sides as well. The members of the public need to trust us to be able to protect them better,” he noted.
A DPO laments lack of funding of police stations
Speaking on the condition of anonymity, a DPO in one of the police stations in Lagos lamented the lack of funding of stations across the country. He listed the woes afflicting policing work in the country. “Imagine our patrol vehicles are fuelled by the citizens using it because we do not get money to fuel from the Force. There is a budget for it, but it doesn’t get to the stations. Most police stations repair the vehicles by themselves. As I am now, I don’t have body armour bulletproof or crush elements. Yet, I am to face criminals every day.
“That is why you see police look away from a robbery incident. They feel it is not their family that is being robbed because even the people don’t appreciate what we do. Many times, people want to beat police or mob us. Things need to change. The authorities are not fair to us. They know that we cannot talk because it will lead to mutiny. But the rot in the system will lead to protest, which may happen very soon.”
He added that they need to have proper insurance cover such that they are sure of recovery physically, emotionally and financially and in the cause of death, their families are paid benefits. “Presently, what we do when any of us become incapacitated is that we contribute money among ourselves to donate to the family, noting that it was only recently that we were enrolled under health insurance.
“In the same vein, our pension is nothing to write home about. In fact, when we think of pension, we get more frustrated because we see our senior colleagues who have retired lamenting that they cannot sustain their selves with what they are paid. For instance, a Chief Superintendent of Police that got N2 million or N3 million in his Retirement Savings Account (RSA) is being paid monthly pension of about N30,000. What we have seen is that many of them go back to working as security in banks and other places.
“This experience has made many of us to find ways of making money while in service from offenders. We want to meet up with the standard of an average person. How can the police authorities expect us to survive on the present salary structure? The salary has been reviewed by President Muhammadu Buhari twice; yet we are not paid. As it is now, most policemen have the mentality of going out in the morning just to make money and not to actually burst crimes.”
To change the face of policing, he advocated for state policing, citing how Lagos State has been taking care of the operatives of the Rapid Response Squad. “Those of us that are strictly under federal police are overwhelmed. Our work strength is not up to 500,000 to 200 million people, far below the United Nations recommendation. So, I believe that state policing is the way to go. We envy our colleagues in the RRS under Lagos State because they are paid a different salary apart from what they are getting at the federal level. They also look well kitted. At the federal level, we are forced to buy uniforms and basic items of kit from uniforms to handcuffs out of our salaries.”
Another police officer said: “Nothing has changed after #EndSARS. It is business as usual for many officers as seen on the road. We live by what motorists, offenders and other people give us. We don’t know what the authorities use monies budgeted for us to do, but we cannot fight. There is no CSP that is collecting 200,000. Even DPO and Area Commander collect like N200,000. We are urging President Muhammadu Buhari to make sure that the salary increase is implemented while they improve our welfare generally. We buy our kits with our own money and they are aware. We also maintain our vehicle,” he added.
Even police retirees don’t fare better. A police retiree, Izuata Momodu, who retired in 2011, said he had written an article 23 days after he retired corruption in the police in Nigeria. The said article was about his plight and the rot pervading the police service in the country. “After my retirement, I suffered a terrible stroke that affected vital parts of my body. I needed N1.2 million at the time to treat myself, but I couldn’t get help after serving my country for 35 years. I nearly died. I had to borrow money to pay for hospital bills and I became indebted after retirement.
“I wrote that if the Federal Government wants to eradicate corruption in the police, they should pay good salary and pension. This has not happened till date. In no distant time, nobody is going to join police again. I could not build a house because I wanted to be honest and not rob the people. I refused to shed blood. I shunned corruption, but what is my gain today. I am earning N49,000 monthly as pension. This is not sufficient for me to buy my drugs; needless say feed me and my family. I had to retire back to my father’s house because I couldn’t build a house.”
How policemen fare abroad in terms of welfare package
Every policeman in Nigeria will be green with envy, if not ashamed of his enlistment, when showed the remuneration packages available to his counterparts, especially in poorer African countries. In Nigeria, often touted as Africa’s giant, police employees are forced to make do with the worst salary structure when compared to what their counterparts collect in other African countries. In Nigeria, the least officers in police force are the police recruits, who are generally regarded as candidates undergoing training to become members of the police force. Police constable (grade level 3) earns N43,293.80; while the Inspector General (IG) of police goes home with N711,498.00 every month.
Police Constable Grade Level 03 (N43, 293.80 per month or N519,525.6 per annum); Constable Grade Level 10 (N51,113.59 per month or N613,363.08 per annum); Corporal Grade 04 (per month – N44,715.53 or N536,586.36 per year); Sergeant Grade 05 (per month – N48,540.88 or annual salary – N582,490.56); Sergeant Major Grade 06 (per month – N55,144.81 or annual salary – N661,737.72); Cadet Inspector Grade Level 07 (salary per month – N73,231.51 or annual salary – N878,778.12); Assistant Superintendent of Police Grade 08 (per month – N127,604.68 or annual salary – N1,531,256.16); Deputy Superintendent of Police Grade 10 (per month – N148,733.29 or annual salary – N1,784,799.48); Superintendent of Police on Grade 11 (per month – N161,478.29 or annual salary – N1,937,739.48); Chief Of Superintendent of Police on Grade 12 (per month – N172,089.06 or annual salary – N2,065,068.72); Assistant Commissioner of Police Grade 13 ( per month – N183,185.73 or annual salary – N2,198,228.76); Deputy Commissioner of Police Grade 14 (per month – N242,715.65 or annual salary – N2,912,587.8); Commissioner of Police on Grade 15 (per month – N266,777.79 or annual salary – N3,201,333.48); Assistant Inspector General of Police (per month – N499,751.87 or annual salary – N5,997,022.44); or Deputy Inspector General of Police (per month – N546,572.73 or annual salary – N6,558,872.76); Inspector General of Police (per month – N711,498 or annual salary – N8,537,976).
According to the annual report by the South African Police Service (SAPS), published in November 2021, the country has 182,126 police employees – a decrease of over 5,200 employees compared to the 2020 report. The reporting period covered April 2020 to March 2021. This figure includes both active police officers and administrative staff: 21,396 commissioned officers; 122,075 non-commissioned officers; 37,840 Public Service Act employees. These reduced employment figures effectively give South Africa a police to population ratio of 1:413.
With this, South Africa falls within the generally accepted benchmark of one police officer to 450 people. The SAPS employees work across a range of sectors including administration, visible policing and crime intelligence, with salaries averaging at R206,000 for the lowest skills level (1-2). This rises to an average salary of R1,435,000 for senior management and executive employees (levels 13-16), while the average salary across all levels is R416,000.
In Ghana, the minimum police salary ranges from 1320GHS per month to 4550GHS per month (or N86,226.59 to N297,220.45). In Chad, person working as a police officer earns salaries ranging from 137,000XAF to 473,000XAF (or N93,965.12 to N324,419.71). A person working as a police officer in Cameroon receives from 127,000XAF to 440,000XAF (or N87,106.35 to N301,785.77). In Togo, salaries of police officers range from 152,000XOF to 524,000XOF (or N103,474.16 to N356,713.55).
In more advanced democracies, police officers are treated almost like kings; not as dregs of society as it happens in Nigeria. In Canada, the average salary for a police officer is over $100,000 (or N41.56 million) a year. An entry level constable will make about $50,000 (or N20.78 million) at the start and, after 3 years of service, the pay jumps to about $82,000 (or N34.09 million) a year. Specifically, a corporal makes between $86,000 – $90,000 (or N35.75 million to N37.40 million), sergeant $95,000 – $98,000 (or ?39.48 million to N40.73 million), inspector $126,000 and superintendent $140,000 (or N52.37 million to N58.19 million).
While the median average salary for police and sheriff patrol officers in the United States is around $60,000 or N24.93 million. This amount varies, depending on the state and level of experience. Some of the highest paying states are New York (average – $103,000 or N42.81 million and entry level $62,000 or N25.77 million), California (average – $102,000 or N42.39 million and entry level: $80,000 or N32.25 million), New Jersey (average – $100,000 or N41.56 million and entry level $53,000 or N52.03 million)
In the United Kingdom, the national average salary for police officers is £31,000 a year and their full time working hours is around 40 hours per week in 8 hour shifts. In fact, overtime hours are paid at a higher rate, making the average London officers going home with around £4,000 a year in overtime salary. Generally, the starting salary for the police constables in England, Wales and Northern Ireland is between £19,400 and £23,000 per year. In around 7 years, it rises to around £38,300; while typical salaries with several years of experience is £36,900 – £42,000 for a sergeant; £47,730 to £51,771 for inspector; and £52,830 to £55,005 for chief inspector. Those who work in London get an extra amount of £2,373 as London weighting.
What should be done, by experts
The Executive Director, Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC), Okechukwu Nwanguma, in an interview with The Nation, said President Buhari must demonstrate genuine commitment to genuine police reform by ensuring full implementation of the Police Act and by leading by example by respecting and acting in accordance with the provisions of the Police Act and other laws. He stated that police external accountability mechanisms must be strengthened while police leadership must prioritise discipline by supporting and empowering internal control and disciplinary mechanisms, such as the Complaints Response Unit (CRU), to investigate and address public complaints and act as tools for checking professional misconduct and changing the culture of incivility and impunity. There must also be a radical improvement in the welfare and working conditions of police personnel because this is one of the means to fight corruption and humanise the police, Nwanguma added.
He urged the government to implement the new Police Act 2020, which was passed and assented to by President Buhari one month before the outbreak of the October 2020 #EndSARS uprising. Nwanguma posited that the purpose of the new Police Act is to democratise the police force by transforming it from a brutal, corrupt and ineffective colonial police of occupation to a people-friendly, service-oriented and accountable police that operates in accordance with democratic policing standards and capable of public trust and support.
“The promises made by government specifically to redress countless cases of police abuse and ensure an end to impunity are yet to be fulfilled. Instead, police brutality remains widespread while the authorities continue in their failure to address documented cases with a view to bringing perpetrators to justice and ensuring justice for victims.”
Senior Legal Adviser, Human Rights Law Service (HURLAWS), Collins Okeke, acknowledged that a lot has happened in more than one year after #EndSARS, adding that judicial panels were constituted by some states; while most of the panels have submitted reports. What, however, remains to be done is the implementation which tragically has not started, he stated. “The poor welfare from poor salary, pension, housing, inadequate equipment to work, among others, has over time reduced their self-esteem and means of livelihood, thereby causing them to engage in unethical practices. There is also lack of discipline,” Okeke pointed out.
