If the National Union of Policemen makes good its threat, the nation will be faced with an avoidable Police strike scheduled to begin next Monday, February 20, 2006. Specifically, the NUP states that its stand on the proposed strike is borne out of government�s insensitivity to their demands.
Since the union dropped the strike notice early in the year, the Police authorities have only reacted by issuing counter-threats. The Inspector General of Police, Mr. Sunday Ehindero, for instance, has dismissed the strike as �a figment of imagination of a few disgruntled elements�, warning that junior ranking policemen might lose their jobs or go to jail if they embark on the proposed strike.
As anarchy stares the nation in the face, fresh facts are emerging on why the Nigeria Police have become overwhelmed in discharging their duties. The NUP blamed the Police woes on non-inclusion of the Police Force in the FG�s monetisation policy; and non-implementation of the minimum wage approved in 2000 for civil servants, which informed the Force�s very poor remuneration package. The NUP�s other demands include enhancement of operational tools for effective policing, establishment of state Police for effective community policing, disbandment of federal highway patrols and policewomen mobile squad; and the elevation of all certificated rank and file to officers� cadre.
Compared with the frustrations often expressed by the Police High Command about the state of the Nigeria Police, the NUP�s demands are not extraordinary. Many Nigerians still remember a statement by the IG that despite the remarkable increase in the numerical strength of the Police from 122,000 in 1999 to 320,000 today, the welfare package, including housing allowances and supply of uniforms, has remained static over the years. Apart from the inflationary pressure on Police salaries, numerous deductions have reduced the take home pay of a Sergeant to less than N10,000 monthly.
While the budget for uniform was reduced from N2 billion in 2004 to a mere N225 million in 2005, the Police recurrent expenditure was cut down from N9 billion to N4.5 billion. Inadequate provision of arms and ammunition, as Ehindero is aware, has turned the Police to a lily-livered security force in the face of daredevil armed robbers. On a daily basis, armed bandits dare the Police to gun duels on their rampaging missions across the country; as ritual murderers, rapists and sundry criminals also foist a reign of terror on hapless citizens. Armed militias have virtually taken over policing duties in major cities and towns across the country.
It was, indeed, the same Ehindero who said that the Police had become spineless in confronting armed bandits, as the sheer number of robbers �is such that sending Police to crime scenes with patrol vehicles alone is no longer effective�. But instead of taking concrete steps towards alleviating the Police plight, the Police High Command prefers to accuse the media of fueling the crisis. Obviously, Ehindero, like the former IGP, Mr. Musiliu Smith did in February 2002, is shying away from the concrete issues of poor pay and bad condition of service, which the police officers have raised.
Nor can the Force�s corrupt leadership be completely exonerated from the present deplorable state of affairs. As several national and international reports have rated the Police as the most corrupt institution in the country, the Police accounts should be properly audited for efficient utilization of available funds. As an immediate step, the FG should come out immediately with a realistic plan on how it intends to settle the backlog of pay arrears it owes the junior ranks in particular.
The decay is also an indication that the FG is incapable of solely funding the Police. In line with the NUP�s demands, only a decentralised administrative structure, with the active participation of other tiers of government, can meet the nation�s present security challenges.
The PUNCH, Friday, February 17, 2006