ABSTRACT
This research work seeks to reveal the effects of police formations attack on
the security of Nigeria and relevance of the Nigerian police force as a
panacea. It is on this premise that the study bases its emphasis on the
Nigerian police force to appraise and ascertain efforts and limitation
encountered in providing adequate security to Nigerians. The subject matter is
both timely and pivotal in this era when Nigeria’s image and freedom
internationally and locally is deteriorating due to the pervasive insecurity
being experienced today. This has bedeviled the Nations march towards
socio-economic growth and development. The study however, focuses on the causes
and effect of insecurity in Nigeria, factors that have inhibited the Nigerian
police force in performing its statutory functions and steps to be made to
enhance greater security in Nigeria and to make the Nigeria police force more responsive
to her duties. This work also gave a chronological historical antecedent of
insecurity in Nigeria. It also delves into the purview of the history,
structure, mission and vision of the Nigerian police force. Moreover, the study
revealed that the relevance of the Nigerian police force in relation to the
security of the country is incapacitated by the inability of the government to
address root causes of insecurity and proffer solution to these root causes.
This is manifested in the inequality and high rate of poverty currently
experienced in the country even in the midst of plenty. The chapters in the
study address various aspect of the problem. The revelation and recommendation
made in this work will be invaluable and important to the Nigerian police,
government, private and corporate organization, as well as, researchers in
proffering solution that will boost security in Nigeria.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND TO
THE STUDY
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE
PROBLEM
1.3 OBJECTIVES OF
THE STUDY
1.4 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
1.5 SCOPE AND
LIMITATION OF THE STUDY
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE
REVIEW AND METHODOLOGY
2.1 LITERATURE REVIEW
2.2 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
2.3 HYPOTHESES
2.4 OPERATIONALIZATION OF KEY
CONCEPTS
2.5
METHODOLOGY
CHAPTER THREE
BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON THE CASE
STUDY
3.1
HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT AND STRUCTURE
OF THE NIGERIAN POLICE FORCE
3.2
MISSION AND VISION STATEMENT OF THE
NIGERIAN POLICE FORCE
CHAPTER FOUR
DATA PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND
FINDINGS
4.1 DATA
PRESENTATION
4.2 TESTING OF HYPOTHESIS
4.3 FINDINGS
4.4 DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
5.1 SUMMARY
5.2 CONCLUSION
REFERENCES
QUESTIONNAIRE
CHAPTER
ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
In recent times, Nigeria has
witnessed an unprecedented plaque of crisis and insecurity, each leading to
loss of lives and destruction of properties. According to Ezeoha (2011:38) in Causes and effects of insecurity in Nigeria,
“Security means stability and continually of livelihood, predictability of
relationships, feeling safe and belonging to a social group. Internal security,
or IS, which is related to security can be seen as the act of keeping peace
within the borders of a sovereign state or other self-governing territories.
This is done generally by upholding the national law and defending against
internal security threats. Those responsible for internal security may range
from police to paramilitary forces, and in exceptional circumstances, the
military itself.
Insecurity on the other hand, is
the antithesis of security which is the concept of insecurity. It has been
ascribed different interpretations in association with the various ways which
it affects individuals. Some of the common descriptors of insecurity include:
want of safety; danger; hazard; uncertainty; want of confidence; doubtful;
inadequately guarded or protected; lacking stability; troubled; lack of
protection; and unsafe, to mention a few. All of these have been used by
different people to define the concept of insecurity. These different
descriptors, however, run into a common reference to a state of vulnerability
to harm and loss of life, property or livelihood. Beland (2005) defined
insecurity as “the state of fear or anxiety stemming from a concrete or alleged
lack of protection.” It refers to lack or inadequate freedom from danger.
In the same token, Oshodi (2011)
argues that one sure way of tackling the insecurity situation in Nigeria is to
accord the field of psychology a pride of place in policy formulation and
implementation to promote national cohesion and integration.
However it can be clearly stated
that Nigeria has remained more insecure especially during and after the April
2011 presidential elections and has suffered more than ever in history, a
battery of ethno-religious-political crises, taking the shape of bomb blasts
sponsored by the Boko Haram religious sect.
#
The unparalleled spate of
terrorism, kidnappings and other violent crimes is to say the least, alarming.
Religious leaders, churches, mosques etc are not spared in this onslaught.
There is no gainsaying the fact that Nigeria is at a cross-road and gradually
drifting towards a failed state if this insecurity trend continues.
According to Bavier, a writer who
is a frequent visitor to the northern region, told CNN that the
Federal
government has completely lost control of the north-east, despite deploying
thousands of troops and establishing a Joint Task Force. Now, he says, it looks
like this insurgency has broken out of the north-east”. And what’s worrying, he
says, is that there’s “not a whole lot of visible effort from the federal
government to calm things down (Lister, 2012:14).
From the aforementioned one can posit that Nigeria has
witnessed an unprecedented level of insecurity. Inter and intracommunal and
ethnic clashes, ethno religious violence, armed robbery, assassination, murder,
gender-based violence, and bomb explosion have been on the increase leading to
enormous loss of life and property and a general atmosphere of siege and social
tension for the populace (Ibrahim and Igbuzor, 2002:2). Furthermore, between
2009 to date over 3,000 souls both military and civilians have been lost in the
purported “holy” crusade; this have further paralyzed government plans in
mapping out an efficient strategy in combating insecurity. Despite soaring
security budget, insecurity still pervades the country.
Consequently, Insecurity has taken various forms in
different parts of the country. In the South-West, armed robbers have taken
over, while in the North, cross-border bandits operate with the ease. However
in the South-South there are rampant cases of kidnapping. Also the incessant
wave of crime and armed robbery attacks, all point to the fact that insecurity
is fast becoming a norm in Nigeria and have somewhat suddenly become attractive
to certain individuals in seeking to resolve issues that could have ordinarily
been settled through due process. The end-products lead to the decimation of
innocent lives, disruption of economic activities, and destruction of
properties among others.
Just last year and early this year, the Emir of
Kano-Alhaji Ado Bayero narrowly escaped death by the whiskers. His driver and
two others were not lucky as they were hacked to death by the assailants.
Somewhere in Okene, Kogi State, gunmen said to be sympathetic to the Cause of
Islamic rebels in Mali were said to have ambushed and opened fire and killed
two soldiers on their way to been deployed to Mali. A faceless new group known
as ‘’Vanguard for the Protection of Moslems in Black Africa’’ has claimed responsibility
for this attack. Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iwela’s mother-Prof. Mrs. Kaneme Okonjo was
also kidnapped a while ago. It took a demonstration of federal might-deployment
of troops for her abductors to free her. Also of recent the mother of Bayelsa
State House of Assembly was also kidnapped. These are prominent cases; so many
other incidents go unreported probably because the victims lack a voice.
In an interview with Guardian Newspaper in united
kingdom, marking late Prof. Chinua Achebe’s 80th Birthday, he was quoted as
saying, “Nigeria is on the brink of a precipice” and that “we urgently have to
face up to our responsibilities before it is too late”.
Accordingly, Ogebe (1991) observed that the current
problems facing Nigeria is not the only rising incidence in crimes, but also
the gradual shift in the categories of crimes committed from less serious to a
more serious and heinous crimes of violence. This poses a great challenge to
the police as well as raises questions of the police accountability and
effectiveness.
The Nigerian police have been highly criticized for
its inability to stem the rising tide of crimes in Nigeria because of series of
endemic problems in recruitment, training and discipline and lack expertise in
specialized fields. Corruption and dishonesty is also widespread in the police
force thereby engendering a low level of public confidence by the public,
leading to failure to report crimes, and tendencies to resort to self-help by
the public. Ash (1971) observed that perhaps the police performance has been
entirely dissatisfactory because there is confusion concerning what police men
actually do on the job and what they reasonably can be expected to do to
achieve a more effective police force. The range of services that police
provide are vast and crime prevention account for only 20 to 30 percent of
police work. In many cities today police work often seem to consist mainly of
reaction to emergencies. It sometimes appears that the original emphasis on
crime preventionhas been lost (Awake, 2000). This has greatly accounted for the
alarming rate of crimes in the country.
Corroborating the aforementioned, a total of sixteen
(16) policemen were arrested of recent in Gusau, the Zamfara State capital by
the Inspector General of Police Anti-robbery Squad for allegedly releasing
Police weapons and ammunition to armed robbers terrorising people of the state.
The affected police officers are from various ranks, especially Inspectors and
Sergeants attached to Zamfara State Police Command. In the same vein, the squad
arrested a retired military officer based in Gusau who specialized in selling
ammunition and other sophisticated weapons meant for the security personnel in
the state to armed robbers and people of Plateau and Kaduna States.
Subsequently, Aside from the bad eggs in the Nigerian
police force, the poor welfare of the police, military and paramilitary
personnel, with lack of adequate working tools, inadequate personnel is another
factor that promotes insecurity in Nigeria.
Olonisakin (2008:20) captures this when he posited that the
police-population ratio in Nigeria is 1:450. At a minimum, citizens ought to
have easy access to the police and feel safer as a result of the protection
they offer. Yet Nigeria has failed to meet the standard set by the United
Nations for effective policing.
Today the incidence of police brutality, corruption,
violence murder and abuse of power has punctuated almost every aspect of the
society. Armed robbery in Nigeria operate almost freely in the society, using
deadly weapons without being challenged and detected by the police and where
the police are dully informed, they give flimsy excuse that they do not have
weapons to fight armed robbers. Even the ordinary man on the street who is
expected to be supportive of the police often have serious misgiving when confronted
with the massive mutual aids granted to the criminals by the police force.
Apart from the aforementioned, Incidence of shooting of innocent people in
retaliation to policing policies has also constituted a serious problem that
has impeded police efforts in crime prevention in Nigeria.
Research have shown that most of police work is taken
up in responding to crime after it has taken place and the police force do not
have the resources to intervene in the circumstances which lead to crimes being
committed. The traditional approaches to crime prevention also do little to
address the causes of crime. They assume that the high rate of crime is
inevitable and that the public must endeavor to defend itself against it.
1.2 STATEMENT
OF THE PROBLEM
Insecurity which is a feature of
the Hobbesian state of nature, when life was said to be solitary, poor, nasty,
brutish and short, and the weak and common man lived at the mercy of the
strong. This trend is exactly the case in the country today, if not close.
According to Thomas Hobbes(1588–1679)In his book entitled Leviathan and published in 1651, he explicitly stated that in the
state of nature nothing can be considered just or unjust, and every man must be
considered to have a right to all things, even the right to take other people’s
lives. Hobbes says that the State of Nature is a hypothetical state of affairs
existing prior to the formulation of 'society' (which arises with the signing
of the hypothetical 'Social Contract').In the State of Nature, Hobbes thinks
everyone acts selfishly. He calls it a war of all against all.
The book looks at the structure of
the society and legitimate government, and is regarded as one of the earliest
and most influential examples of social contract theory. Leviathan ranks
as a classic western work on statecraft comparable to Machiavelli's The Prince. Written during the English
Civil War (1642–1651), Leviathan
argues for a social contract and rule by an absolute sovereign. Hobbes wrote
that civil war and situations identified with a state of nature and the famous
motto Bellum omnium contra omnes
("the war of all against all") could only be averted by strong
central government. Having rightly observed Thomas Hobbes writings, it can be
said then that Nigeria’s central government is porous and weak to tackle her
insecurity challenges which have been endemic and endless, that is why there
have been a lot of clamor for state police in other to spread the security base
of the Nation.
Furthermore Thomas Hobbes work,
explains why the police and Successive Nigerian Government see Insecurity as a
bane to the Nation’s economic and political development and have at different
times devised various means to curb its menace. Consequently, these various
means have not yielded satisfactory result. The newest security challenge is
the boko haram militant Islamist organization, which have taken numerous lives
and properties. The battle between the federal government and this group began
on 26 July when Boko Haram attacked a police station in retaliation for the
arrest of its leaders. Police responded with their own retaliation and a curfew
fell on the area. The attacks spread and by the next day corpses were located
around the police stations. Nigerian troops then surrounded the home of the
leader of the sect, Mohammed Yusuf in Maiduguri on 28 July after his followers
barricaded themselves inside. However the worst happened when Mohammed Yusuf
was later extra judiciously killed by the Nigerian police and ever since then
Nigerians have not known peace.
The socio-political implication of
this development can only be imagined, given the risks and agonies survivors
are currently going through. According to Egburonu
(2012:20)
We are afraid of
Boko Haram. Daddy and Mummy keep awake all night in case the attackers decide
to invade our home. They would lock all the doors tightly, pray all Night and
ask us to sleep. But we never can, for we don’t know what will happen next…
They said we would soon go home, so we are waiting
That was how Miss Agnes Agwuocha, a
17-Year old student in Kano, described the terror she and the members of her
family have been passing through since the terrorist group had given the
affected non indigenes a mere three-day ultimatum, and since after the
expiration, had followed it up with pockets of attacks and killings in Yobe,
Niger, and Borno states. But though these previous Boko Haram attacks in
several cities across the north have affected mainly Igbos and other Christians
and southerners.
To this end, the research work
therefore intends to find out answers to the following problems identified as
follows:
i.
What
are the causes and effects of insecurity in Nigeria?
ii.
Is
the Nigerian police force equipped and properly empowered to provide security
to Nigerians?
iii. What are the factors that have
inhibited the Nigerian police force in performing its statutory functions?
iv. Is the Nigerian police force
relevant in combating insecurity in Nigeria?
v.
What
are the steps to be made to enhance greater security in Nigeria and to make the
Nigeria police force more responsive to her duties?
1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The
objectives of this study are:
i.
To
find out the specific causes and fundamental effects of Insecurity in Nigeria.
ii. To ascertain the extent to which
Nigerian Police force is equipped and empowered to provide security to
Nigerians.
iii. To identify the challenges that has
inhibited the Nigerian police in performing its statutory functions.
iv. To explore the relevance of the
Nigerian police force in combating insecurity in Nigeria.
v. To seek out solutions to insecurity
in Nigeria and corrections that can be made to better the Nigerian police
force.
1.4 SIGNIFICANCE
OF THE STUDY
Considering the crucial role of security in any
government, especially a democratically elected government, a study like this
has become necessary. The task of eradicating insecurity in Nigeria is never a
rosy affair but a Herculean task.
Insecurity in Nigeria has become so widespread and has
taken so many lives on the daily basis. It then follows that something is wrong
with our security affairs and also with the state called Nigeria.
Practically, this work will help in re-emphasizing and
fostering ways by which the problem of insecurity can be addressed. Even with
the regrettably number of lives that have been lost.
Academically, the work will be useful to the academic
environment. Post graduates and other researchers carrying out research in
related area will find the work very useful.
Theoretically, the weakness and other lapses that will
be identified in this research work will help the politicians and policy makers
in the country to restructure our security bodies.
1.5 SCOPE AND LIMITATION OF THE STUDY
Every research endeavor has its scope and limitations;
our scope of study is the causes and effects of insecurity in Nigeria, the challenges
and the relevance of the Nigerian police force as a panacea.
Since it is impossible for a research endeavor to
cover the entire research population, the target population now becomes Enugu
and Anambra state because of the proximity of these states. These two states
was chosen because we believe that we can get those who really know much about
the Insecurity challenges in the country and how the Nigeria police force have
been able to combat it so far. In this vein, the researcher will be able to
gather enough data that will definitely aid the study.
Apart from the inability of the researcher to cover
all members of the envisaged sample, the researcher faced some limitations in
retrieving some of the research instruments administered to respondents
especially police respondents because of the nature of their job and their
general lack of appreciation of the value of social research. Also the police
stations visited were hesitant in giving out some sensitive statistical details
and information to back up the research project. All these constituted a
constraint to the research endeavor.
Notwithstanding the above noted
Constraints, the researcher made tremendous effort to make the study a Success.
Click “DOWNLOAD NOW” below to get the complete Projects
FOR QUICK HELP CHAT WITH US NOW!
+(234) 0814 780 1594
Login To Comment