Former Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Sunday Ehindero yesterday called for the revalidation of the police to tackle insecurity in the country.
Explaining what could be responsible for ineffectiveness in the force, he said: “I am sure there are some insane people in the police. The attitude is to keep them away from handling arms. There is the need for the revalidation of the police. Many police officers need to be re-engaged after a period of time. The re-engagement will entail their mental alertness to see if they are mentally and physically fit to continue with the work.
“When we were in the force, we arrested policemen collecting bribes on the highway. We must get some of these bad eggs out of the force. I think time has come when there should be revalidation. You have to re-engage them. Those who are not mentally fit should be rationalised. The same thing should happen at the officers’ level before confirmation because if not, things will continue to go wrong.”
Speaking in Abuja on the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA 24) programme tagged: ‘Early Edition’, the former IGP during the ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo administration decried the escape of the Boko Haram suspect from the police net, adding: “There is a lot of expectations from the public. How would you explain the escape of the Boko Haram suspect, Sokoto, from police custody? Of course, they expect justice at the end of the day. They will think something is wrong with the force. When it comes to the issue of logistics to fight crime, I think the police should be well prepared. What is lacking is the intellectual input in the police from our university communities.”
He said security agencies in Nigeria do not share information to curb crime, compared to those in other countries.
Ehindero was quick to say that the current police force cannot enhance crime prevention, adding that the Criminal Intelligent Bureau (CIB) should be well funded and resuscitated for effective performance.
His words: “I am not comfortable with the logistics in the Nigeria Police. We do not have forensic science laboratory in the country. This is not good enough. We do not have what it takes to control crime. When I was a junior officer and there was robbery between Lagos and Ibadan, it was controlled through intelligence. There is lack of idea from which the top officers of the police could pick.
“The discipline you gain in the force will take you through lives. I am fulfilled as the former Inspector-General of Police. There are more things to be done to make the Nigeria Police face the present challenges.
“When I was the Inspector-General of Police, I sent out nine programmes. The first action plan was intelligent policing as a means to combat crime. The Whites do not believe in meeting the enemy at the battle field. You can win a war without firing a gun. Intelligence is very important. It is a low level of strategy to meet the criminal on the field. In our own environment, security agencies do not share information. There is the need for an act to ensure that all the security agencies share information.
“The police must earn trust from the public. The police are changing for the better, though some recent incidents have a way of denting the image of the force. We need to do certain things to change the police. When I was the IGP, former President Olusegun Obasanjo called me and the Chief of Army Staff to know what could be done to improve the police. I told him that the salary of a sergeant was less than N10, 000; a constable’s salary was N8, 000. He did not believe it and he called the Accountant-General of the Federation and he confirmed it. He then set up a Presidential Reform Committee. They went round the country. A committee was also set up to draft the white paper and government accepted the report. One of the recommendations was that the Criminal Intelligent Bureau (CIB) should be well equipped and funded. I must tell you that the CIB is more or less moribund now.
“It also recommended reorganisation and restructuring of the police. The present structure cannot enhance crime prevention. I think having more police men without focus will do the police no good. The police force must embrace training to face the public properly.”
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Ex-IGP Ehindero urges police reform