RADICAL SHAKE-UP IN THE NIGERIAN POLICE FORCE

          In its resolve to implement the new Police Reform towards addressing the rising level of insecurity in the country, the Federal Government has in the past few months, embarked on radical shake-up of the Police force.

          Beginning with the sudden sack of Hafis Ringim in January this year, who was replaced by Mohammed Abubakar as the Inspector General of Police, other massive compulsory retirement of dozens of Assistant Inspectors General (AIG’s), Deputy Inspectors General (DIG’s) and Commissioners of Police (CPs)  followed, thereby giving room for the promotion of other junior officers to fill in the gap.

          Most recent of such drastic reshufflment in the ranks of the Nigeria Police force was the compulsory retirement of 13 (AIG’s) and over 10 Commissioner’s of Police, as was widely reported in the national dailies of Tuesday, March 6^th 2012.

          Typically, those retirements and promotions have generated a lot of controversy among Nigerians, especially the senior officers in the force who were affected by the shake-up. Several petitions were filed by the officers against the promotion of some junior officers, which according to procedure would amount to sending the superseded seniors on compulsory retirement to pave way for the new bosses to work effectively. However, the Police Service Commission has countered the petitions against the new promotions, stressing that according to the new Police Reform Document, promotions are pegged on performance, diligence, competence, integrity, among others.

          Many Nigerians could support the Police Service Commission in its conclusion that the past leadership of the force have failed to perform up to the standard. Also, series of events that have taken place in the recent past with regards to security challenges support the argument that the leadership of the Police Force was incompetent. The inexcusable escape of suspects from Police custody,  the way and manner terrorist attacks flourish and are staged successfully all over the country, the spate of armed robbery and other vices are all indicative of the incompetence and failure of the Police force in discharging their duties and responsibilities effectively. In fact, in many quarters, the Nigerian Police are blamed for the escalation of the Boko Haram insurgency, because of the way and manner they mishandled the situation when the leader of the group was arrested and later murdered. And ever since the group waged war against them, the Police have failed to protect itself, the officers have become the prey, and in most cases, Police stations are left empty because of fears of being attacked. It now appears that the police have withdrawn back, they have accepted their defeat and given way to the military to do their job, to protect them and the ordinary civilians.

          It is therefore hoped that the recent reshufflement and massive shake-up taking place in the Police force will reposition it well towards improving its performance and effectively handling the security situation in the country. Those who were retired should accept their destiny in good faith and continue to render their technical assistance and advice to the new leadership towards addressing the barrage of security challenges facing the country. They should also desist from making statement or taking actions that would undermine the efforts of the new leadership.

          On the other hand, the junior officers that were elevated to the ranks of DIG’s, AIG’s and CPs should see the promotion as a call to service. They should see it as an opportunity to contribute their quota towards nation building. They should learn from the mistakes of their predecessors and bring in new innovations that would improve the performance of the Police. They should also have a clear understanding of the daunting challenges facing them in terms of loss of confidence from the citizens and the rising level of insecurity across   the nation, and therefore, brace-up to face the challenges with total commitment, dedication, patriotism, high-level of professionalism and sense of responsibility.

The government should also step-up efforts in reviewing salaries, allowances and other entitlements and welfare packages of the Police, as well as provide all the necessary equipment and facilities that will aid the police in discharging their duties effectively. The citizens should also play their own part by being law abiding, and assisting the authorities with useful intelligence information and other support and cooperation that would be needed from them.

Radical shake-up in the ranks of the Police force is only one step towards enhancing the performance of the police, but all stakeholders must put heads together to achieve a better result.