Apparently dazed by the killings and destruction visited on its members and infrastructure by hoodlums in the aftermath of the EndSARS protest, officials of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) are reportedly yet to resume duties fully as morale within the rank and file has fallen.
This has spread fears across the country about a looming danger of uncontrolled mayhem by rampaging hoodlums who now enjoy free day terrorising the citizens in the streets.
Some experts have said the EndSARs debacle has exposed everything that is wrong with the Nigeria state using the ill-fated condition of the police as metaphor. It is widely believed that if urgent steps are not taken to boost the morale of the dazed police officers, anarchy may consume the nation at this critical period.
Speaking with BusinessDay last Wednesday, a security expert, Kabiru Adamu, attributed the recent attitude of the police to the feeling of being abandoned by the authorities.
Adamu said, “Most of the policemen feel they are not being protected, they have been killed, and the Nigerian state seems to have abandoned them,” and called for strategic communication to take stock of what was bad in the police so that the public would not lose sight of the demands of the EndSARS protesters.
“There are a lot of things that are bad in the police and we should separate that from ideal police that we want, so that the messaging does not mask our feeling that there is nothing bad about the police, there is something bad within the police,” he said.
On the looming danger occasioned by the seeming abdication of the police leaving the hapless citizens at the mercy of hoodlums, the security expert, who decried the sad situation, said the situation can be remedied by concerted efforts by all the 27 security agencies in Nigeria and not just the police. There is nothing much self-help by citizens can achieve, especially during the ember period when the crime rate usually spikes, he said.
“So, when we ask our people to resort to self-help, there is really not much that can be done that way. The only recommendation is for the people to put pressure on government. The media can continue to highlight this point. I want each and every of the 27 organisations that are involved in security in Nigeria to work together, they should not leave it for the police alone,” he said.
He stressed that non-state actors cannot protect Nigerians no matter what they do, even as he urged citizens to also take some personal security measures, such as avoiding night travels and excessive display of wealth.
Also speaking with BusinessDay, security expert and columnist, Majeed Dahiru, raised alarm about the seeming overpowering of the police by irate mobs, even as he expressed fear about the capacity of the police to function properly at this period. He however cautioned the police not to resort to blackmail to abdicate their responsibility of securing Nigerians despite their losses.
Majeed said, “The police, despite the losses they suffered, which was condemnable, should not subject Nigerians to subtle blackmail of abdicating their responsibility on the pretext that they suffered losses. All Nigerians suffered one loss or another, either life or property, in the same period in question. The hoodlums also looted property belonging to private citizens.
“They should not use this pretext of demoralisation to blackmail Nigerians, which is an abdication of duty that they are paid to do.”
He expressed fear that if irate mob was able to overrun police stations and killed officers and seized their weapons, it was simply indicative of weak police system and structure that cannot protect their own let alone protect the public.
“It means abinitio they don’t have the means to protect the public. This is a wakeup call now to equip the police and fund them properly. The government must hasten the reforms,” he said.
On the question of self-defence for Nigerians in the face of the obvious danger, Majeed noted that Nigerians do not have the capacity for self-defence because of strong regulations on arms and their uses in Nigeria.
He however urged the government to allow a certain category of Nigerians the permit to bear arms since the Nigerian state appeared to have failed to curb general insecurity in many parts of the county.
“At this point, we need to ease the control of arms in Nigeria. The government should allow weapons to a certain category of qualified citizens, which will go a long way to complement what the state can do now. I am of the view that in order to check the bad guys, some good guys should be allowed to carry guns. So, we need to legalise weaponry now,” he said.
He also warned against every attempt to muddle up the EndSARS protest, which he said was peaceful, was well-organised, and purposeful, with the wanton destruction of property by hoodlums, stressing that both issues were completely different.
“EndSARS protest was against police brutality and the call for police reforms, which would actually enhance police welfare. What happened was that when some elements within the establishments decided to bring in hoodlums to disrupt peaceful protests, it created a security gap that was taken advantage of by some other hoodlums that were not invited to carry out mayhem.
“What we saw in the last three weeks is simply an extension of the state of insecurity in Nigeria, it was a time bomb and these are early signs of state failure, it is a red flag,” he noted.
The police have however debunked the claim that they have abandoned their duties, saying such insinuations were untrue.
Reacting, Public Relations Officer of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command, Yusuf Mariam, said the police was very much on duty with adequate deployment of men in strategic places, especially in the nation’s capital.
“It is untrue that we have abandoned our duties, we are still very much on duty and performing our fundamental responsibilities of protecting lives and property. I am sure you will notice that all over the city, we have made deployments in strategic places. So, we are still very responsive to maintaining law and order basically,” she said.
