Nigeria Police Force

By Hassan Idris 

As students of sociology and criminal justice, we can’t debunk the fact that social control is a compelling discussion subject in the criminal justice system.  There has not been any society that exists without a social control mechanism to oversee the behaviours of its members. The Nigerian police, my discussion subject, is regarded as the ‘gatekeeper’ of the criminal justice system because it’s the nearest social control mechanism to the people. However, social control is unarguably the most preponderant static aspect of every human society. It’s the prerequisite for maintaining decorum, orderliness, and stability, which becomes a vital thing for every human society to develop a social control mechanism, be it formal or informal, to oversee the behaviour of the members of the society and bring about development and stability.

Marshall, in 1996 defined Social control as “the process of keeping individuals in check, moderating their behaviours, and maintaining social order”. Social controls tend to encompass the strategies and mechanisms put in place to oversee the behaviours of the members of human society. Social control is the birth of human social relationships which may be informal (comprising written norms, values, or customs) or formal (typically practised by the personnel of constitutionally acknowledged agencies. But we cannot discredit that formal and informal social control mechanisms are derived from the habituation and rationalization that arises from repeated interaction. 

Okoye, in 2011 posited that the word” Police” comes from the Latin word politic, which means” civil administration”.  However, the first Professor of Criminology in Nigeria from the Prestigious Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria-Nigeria, Professor Odekunle, in 2010,  defined the police as “the government officials most proximate to crime, temporally and procedurally, and the leading figures in crime prevention, control and law enforcement processes”. The fundamental objectives of policing in society are to provide security, or at least a social and psychological feeling of security, for a majority of citizens, in a majority of places, and for most of the time. The police, the “gatekeeper” of the criminal justice system in all contemporary societies, is the most apparent agent of formal social control. This is why Bittner, in 1990, asserted that “social control and reactions to deviance are intimately bound up with the functions of the police because they all address the central problem posed by events or behaviour which ought not to be happening”. 

However, the fact remains that the police assist other social control agencies through many of their actions. The paramount role the police play in ensuring societal laws, norms and values are kept and regulated made it one of the cogent institutions of the criminal justice system. Most Nigerians would not refute that the police institution is the nearest institution with regular contact with the people, making it distinctive amongst other criminal justice institutions. The uniqueness of the police clenches the evidence that its decision and action on the street or in society is vital to the existence of the criminal justice system. The police are the “gatekeeper” of the criminal justice system, and it decides who moves into the system and who comes out. Therefore, every action or activity carried out by the police have myriad and huge implications for the criminal justice system and other institutions.

Furthermore, to understand the contemporary Nigerian police and the anti-people administration they portend, it’s paramount to trace back to the history of policing and the colonial policies that influenced the current bureaucratic policing we have today. The history of policing predates the modification of the police as a permanent occupational group within bureaucratic institutions providing the primary state response to crime and disorder.  In the past, before the emergence of the contemporary police we have today, it was traditionally the duty of all adults in the community, especially male adults, to prevent, control, and guide people from internal and external inversion and aversion. However, the emergence of the state with its wide bureaucracies brought about centralization, hierarchical authority, power structure and professionalism and the traditional strategies of policing were transformed from everyone’s business to the state business.

The historical emergence of the conventional police over the globe occurred independently; nevertheless, the historical emergence of policing in Nigeria is categorized into three. The first category is the pre-colonial category which policing then includes the use of cults, messengers, secret societies and palace guards. Crime surveillance and curtailing then in Nigeria were executed by indigenous institutions which are regionally based.  The Northern and Southern Districts of the country’s system of policing were established on centralization and formalization. In the Northern parts of Nigeria, monopolized by the Hausa-speaking ethnic group, the Dogarai was employed as the bodyguards of the Sark( Emir or King). They refine full-time policing in the community. Under the leadership of the Dogarai, the Sarkin Dogarai was charged with capturing and disciplining offenders and protecting the town from internal and external invasions. Similarly, in the Yoruba-speaking ethnic group of Western Nigeria, the Ilari, Emese, or even the Aguven was responsible for apprehending or arresting criminals.

In the secondary category, which is the colonial period, the system and principles of policing changed and became anti-people. The vitality of establishing the formal police by the colonial masters was essentially to serve and protect their commercial interests and not the people. It’s a reason we have brutal and anti-people policing in Nigeria today. I’ll justify that in the next paragraph when I’m discussing the post-colonial category of policing. The third category, which is the post-colonial category, the leftover system in the pre-colonial category, which is anti-people policing, was still carried to this period, even when the colonial masters left, and this is evidence of why the style of law enforcement used by the Nigerian police today is not for the masses. 

The Nigerian police, without a doubt, have lost confidence in the hearts of the people, and there have been accused of unnecessary arrest and even breach of law. But we can’t deny that the Nigerian police from inception was built upon the wrong foundation because the British established a predatory police administration for Nigeria for the fundamental purpose and strategy of sustaining, promoting, and ensuring the socio-economic and political orientations and occupations of the colonial masters. 

In conclusion, the current pervasive feelings of insecurity and the near-total breakdown of law and order as a result of the upsurge in different criminal activities, like terrorism, kidnapping, armed robbery, political assassinations, and ritual killings, in Nigeria is an indictment of the failure of the Nigeria police force as the most visible agent of formal social control and the gatekeeper of the criminal justice system in the country. However, despite these shortcomings, the Nigerian police force remains a vital pillar through which conformity and maintenance of order are installed.

Hassan Idris is a sociologist and poet and sent this article via idrishassan035@gmail.com.

By Muhammadu Sabiu

Reports reaching The Daily Reality have revealed that the Sokoto State Police Command has detained one Nasiru Idris of the Sabon Birni Local Government Area in possession of 101 permanent voter cards (PVCs).

The suspect was apprehended on October 10, 2022, in Sabon Birni, Police Commissioner Hussain Gumel said to reporters during a briefing.

He, according to the police commissioner, was unable to explain where he obtained the 101 PVCs, adding that, “It is envisaged that owners of these cards are not only from Sabon Birni local government but could be from other parts of the state because we could not trace the rightful owners of the PVCs.”

The CP promised that after a month, the police would hand over all of the unclaimed PVCs to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

He also urged members of the public, especially those whose identification cards were lost or stolen, to visit the command headquarters and check for identification.

By Uzair Adam Imam

The police operatives in Bauchi State killed two suspected bandits during an exchange of gunfire and also recovered machine guns and N8.4m ransom generated from victims in the state.

A 20-year-old bandit was also arrested by police in the incident that took place on Tuesday at Maina-Maji village, Alkaleri Local Government Area of the state.

CP Umar Mamman Sanda, the Bauchi State Commissioner of Police, made this disclosure to journalists while parading the suspect on Tuesday.

He added, “Security concerns in our society have assumed alarming dimensions ranging from gender-based violence, thuggery, armed robbery, kidnapping, and banditry, among others.

“This necessitates a review of our modus operandi to contain the current security challenges bedeviling our dear state.

“On 07/09/2022, a patrol team attached to Maina-Maji Divisional Police Headquarters, in collaboration with a vigilante group, acted on credible intelligence and raided a suspected kidnappers’ den.

“On arrival, the kidnappers opened fire on the Police operatives. While returning fire, two of the kidnappers were neutralized at the spot.”

By Uzair Adam Imam

A 51-year-old man, Oluranti Badejo, has been arrested by Police in Ogun for allegedly beating his 40-year-old wife, Folasade Badeje, which resulted in her death immediately.

On Thursday, the Police Spokesman, Abimbola Oyeyemi, confirmed the development to journalists in the state, adding that the suspect has been apprehended.

It was gathered that his arrest followed a complaint lodged at Mowe Police Divisional Headquzrter by the younger sister of the deceased.

Several reports indicated that the incident occurred at Orimerunmu, Mowe, in the Obafemi-Owode Local Government area of the state.

Oyeyemi said the husband beat his wife to death after they had a minor misunderstanding.

The DPO Mowe division, SP Folake Afeniforo, quickly dispatched the divisional detectives to the scene where the suspect was arrested.

“The lifeless body of the victim was there and then evacuated to the mortuary in Sagamu for post-mortem examination. Preliminary investigation revealed that the suspect strangled the deceased during a scuffle as a result of a minor disagreement.

“Having realized that he has killed his wife, the suspect used a hot iron to burn parts of the body of the deceased so as to look as if she was electrocuted. But unfortunately for him, their 8-year-old daughter was there and witnessed the whole thing.

“It was the daughter who testified seen her father strangulating her deceased mother,” Oyeyemi said.

The Commissioner of Police, Lanre Bankole, to have directed that the suspect be taken to the Homicide section of the state Criminal Investigation Departments for further investigation.

By Uzair Adam Imam

The Imo State Police Command arrested five persons for allegedly killing a man whose wife died in a car accident a few days ago. 

The incident took place on Monday, October 11, 2022, and her demise stroke terror and threw the community into deep mourning. 

The man was identified as Apostle Wisdom Mbakwe and hailed from Umuduruchukwu Aboh, Isu, in the Nwangele Local Government Area of the state. 

He was said to have been making the burial arrangements for his wife when he was brutally murdered. 

Speaking to journalists in the state, one of the deceased relatives recounted, “Our brother was observing his morning prayer according to the Jewish religion he professes. 

“Just then, Chidiebere said he heard the shout of ‘Yahweh, Yahweh’ and rushed into the house just in time to see the deceased struggling with some men.

“One of them tried to use a machete on his head, but he dodged, and it landed on his shoulders. He ran out to alert some neighbours and the youth of the area. 

“When they came, they did not see my brother or the assailants. So they started combing the bush, thinking that if they were kidnappers, they wouldn’t have gone far.

“But they combed everywhere without seeing anyone. When they eventually returned to the house, they observed blood all over the sitting room and saw my brother where the killers had pushed his body in between some chairs and covered him up with curtains,” she added. 

Police Public Relations Officer, CSP Mike Abattam, said the Police are still investigating to fully discover the circumstances surrounding the incident.

By Uzair Adam Imam

Reports from Zamfara State indicate that the police in the state have arrested eight bandits’ informants, gun runners, cattle rustlers and suppliers of hard drugs and foodstuff.

The police operatives also repelled the terrorists’ attacks in Bukkuyum, Shinkafi and Tsafe Local Government Areas of the state. 

The state Police Public Relations Officer, Superintendent Mohammed Shehu, disclosed this to journalists in Zamfara. 

Zamfara State is one of the epicentres of banditry and kidnapping in northern Nigeria that suffers from several attacks, leading to the deaths and displacements of a number of its residents. 

 He said the operatives also recovered four sophisticated guns, one cutlass and a bunch of charms after exchanging gunfire with the terrorists, who were forced to retreat into the bush.

Following the distress calls by some community members, this resulted in repelling the terrorists’ planned attacks on some communities. 

The suspects are under the state’s police custody, and a thorough investigation is currently taking place. 

Dear sir, dear all,

That security of this country is in a coma is no news. That Ogbomoso, the land of the valiant in Oyo State, is under the siege of abductors is also an incontestable fact.

 In the dead of night on Monday, September 19, 2022, along the express, in Gbede, Surulere local government area, a man identified as Alhaji Yisa Agric was reportedly abducted from his house brazenly. This is shocking. 

Several heinous abductions of innocent inhabitants of Ogbomoso were recorded weeks earlier. One of the attacks, which led to the death of a student of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomoso, Oyo state and some people, exacerbated the ire of the people the most. 

Consequently, a rally which was graced with an avalanche of people was launched to engage in the public debate on the issue. After the demonstration, no reported kidnapping case was heard, at least in August. This was jubilated, not knowing their ram moved backwards in anger to garner more power.

The attention of the Oyo State government under the leadership of a good governor, Engr. Seyi Makinde is herein called to this menace of insecurity in Ogbomoso, which is bedevilling his good administration, for hasty panacea be preferred before it goes haywire. 

Also, the philanthropists are beseeched to financially sponsor the unconventional security personnel to launch a manhunt to arrest the unscrupulous perpetrators of the dastardly acts. The earlier, the better.

Olayode Inaolaji wrote from Ogbomoso, Oyo State, via inaolajiolayode@yahoo.com.

By Uzair Adam Imam and Muhammad Sabi’u

A Chief Medical Director of Kaiama General Hospital, Dr. Adio Adebowale, was arrested for allegedly killing his girlfriend and one other lady in Kwara State.

A statement issued and signed by the state police command PRO, Ajayi Okasanmi, disclosed this on Sunday in Ilorin.

The suspect was arrested in Edo and had confessed the killing of his girlfriend, Ifeoluwa, who declared missing in Table area of Ilorin in 2021.

”The investigation led the team to Kaiama general hospital where the suspect worked as the Chief Medical Director.

“The suspect’s office was forced opened and a decomposing corpse of an unidentified female body was found buried in a shallow grave,” the spokesperson said.

Further search to his office led to the discovery of another decomposing corpse of missing Nafisat Halidu in a trash can.

“Based on the commissioner’s directive, investigation into the case began and that the Police worked on an information based on the arrest of one Dr Adio Adebowale in Edo,” the statement added.

By Uzair Adam Imam

A kidnapped mother and her four children, alongside three other people, were rescued from bandits along Birnin Gwari and Chikun LGAs.

Samuel Aruwan, the Commissioner for the Ministry of Internal Security and Home Affairs, disclosed this in a statement issued on Tuesday.

He said the victims were rescued during a patrol in the areas by the Troops Operation Forest Sanity.

It was reported that the troops came under fire from the bandits while on patrol along the Birnin Gwari-Gayam-Kuriga-Manini axis.

However, after the troops returned the fire, the bandits fled into the forests, leaving behind the captives in their custody.

Aruwan said, “The seven victims have been reunited with their families.”

He identified the victims as Gloria Shedrack and her four children named Jimre Shedrack, Jonathan Shedrack, Angelina Shedrack and Abigail Shedrack. While the adults freed were Joseph Ishaku and John Bulus.

The Government of Kaduna State commended the troops for their brave efforts in rescuing and reuniting the victims with their families.

By Uzair Adam Imam

Operatives of Nigeria Custom Service (NCS) have reportedly shot two people who attempted to obstruct their operations in Ringim LGA of Jigawa State.

The incident took place Saturday evening when enraged youths attempted to prevent the joint border patrol team from conducting an operation in the area.

The Jigawa State Police Spokesperson, DSP Lawan Shiisu Adam, confirmed the development to journalists in the state, adding that during the operation, many bags of foreign rice were recovered.

He added that the “village youths had gathered and attempted to stop the officers from carrying out the operation.

“As a result, the officers fired some bullets at the protesters, and two people were shot and injured,” he stated.

Consequently, the victims were taken to Gabasawa Hospital in Kano State for medical attention.

This incident comes few days after a number of shops and houses were destroyed and some residents injured in Babura Local Government as a result of a border drill carried out by custom officers which was reported to have caused gas explosion along the Niger/Nigeria border.