Military rule weakened Nigeria Police – Coomassie

Former Inspector General of Police, Alhaji Ibrahim Coomassie, on Tuesday in Kaduna said the decision of the Murtala/Obasanjo and the Babangida regimes to reduce the powers of the police was responsible for its inefficiency and the problems confronting the force.

Coomassie also accused the Ministry of Police Affairs of usurping the powers of the Inspector General of Police in terms of financial control and accountability.

According to him, instead of assisting the Presidency to process financial and policy matters for the force, the ministry has completely taken over the financial control of the force from the IG.

The former police boss, while presenting a paper titled, ‘Thoughts on Current National Security Challenges’ at a one-day summit on fiscal responsibility as an antidote to fighting corruption, national security and consolidating Nigeria’s unity, said the removal of the intelligence unit of the police by the Obasanjo regime at the end of the civil war without creating an alternative unit affected their operations.

He argued that the Babangida regime further weakened the police when it created the Federal Road Safety Commission, the National Guard and the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency to perform some of the functions of the police.

Coomassie said, “The dismembering resulted in the proliferation of other bodies to perform police functions, thus weakening the force.”

He added that altering of the command structure of the force with the creation of four additional deputy inspectors general also affected the performance of the force because it created rivalry and animosity within the hierarchy of the police.

Though he blamed the military regimes for most of the problems in the Nigeria Police, Coomassie said civilian administrations also created part of the problem.

According to him, the establishment of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the removal of the Federal Road Safety Commission from under the control of the police after it was returned to the police by the Sani Abacha regime further weakened the police.

He listed factors that have contributed to the dwindling performance of the police to include population growth, several military take-over of political power, which had engendered dramatic and seemingly indelible social changes; creation of new states and local governments without proper take off funding for the new police outfits in these areas.

Other factors, he said, include “destabilising excisions and creations to form parallel or quasi law enforcement agencies which were given priority rating but continue to perform police functions, perpetual neglect of the Nigeria police over a prolonged period of time, which has led to lack of professionalism, lack of equipment to combat crime and other vices.”

He also alleged that “recruitment and training have been compromised as a result of conditions of service which do not attract the right material and those with the right qualifications do not apply to join the force”.

On the security threat posed by the Boko Haram group, Commassie said, “security outfits in particular, the intelligence community clearly lack the ability to provide the necessary and authentic information needed to take proactive measures to nip potential problems in the bud.

“If anything, intelligence has crumbled. What is responsible for the failure of our security outfits to track down dissidents? You may say lack of dedication to responsibility on the part of the security operatives, but were they provided with the necessary logistics and equipment to do a good job? In all honesty, I would say that these groups have gone ages ahead of the security community.

“The prejudice with the current Boko Haram issue is being treated is a clear indication that no lesion might be learnt from this one. The slain leader of the sect or group or whatever you choose to call it clearly was sounding peaceful and was urging for peace. Agreed he was preaching abstract ideology which the constitution permits.

“When and where did he turn violent? Was he provoked? If he was, who is responsible for the provocation? Did we consider dialogue? If not, why? Was he acting alone?

“Was any person or group giving him a background push? Did we care to know? Is the problem with Nigeria’s security more of a policy issue? Whatever the case, the security, political and even the economic landscape of the country had been distorted and except the right pegs are put in the right holes, our believed nation may never be the same.”