Onslaught on Police: FG must rise to its statutory preserve
Attacks on Police infrastructures across Nigeria, have graduated to become a troubling phenomenon. The dimensional status which the phenomenon is assuming in recent times, remains a source of worry when consideration is given to the fact that an institution which is meant to be the source of protection for citizens, has itself become an endangered species. The rising spate of onslaught against Police officers and the facilities of the Force most recently, send no other signal than that of worsening of insecurity profile. This is because if the entity meant to be the closest force of domestic and communal security to the people is itself threatened and insecure, what then becomes of the people.
The rooting formations of attacks against Police facilities and men of the Force began to assume a pride of reoccurrence since #ENDSARS protest which was staged by the Nigerian Youths, October last year, in reaction against brutality of the men of the Force, particularly men of the disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS). The protest which led to violent reprisal attacks against Police architectures including facilities and officials of the Force, laid the foundation of precedence which has emboldened attacks against the architectures of the Force. Since then, records of attacks against men of the Force and its facilities, particularly Police stations, have become a common phenomenon across the Country. The phenomenon has however, in most recent time, become more troubling in the Southeastern geopolitical zone of the Country.
Report came forth again on Thursday of the attack unleashed on the Ojoto Police Station in the Idemili South Local Government Area of Anambra State by gunmen numbering about 15, where one Inspector of Police was reportedly killed in the attack. It was reported that it only took police operatives on duty who fought back to repel the hoodlums from setting the station ablaze.
It is important to state that the prevailing narrative of insecurity across the Country remains a subject of concern requiring a forceful push of operations for a change in the realities of living conditions in the Country. It is reminiscent that the collapse of Police architecture since the #ENDSARS protests has largely crippled security operations against various forms of societal and domestic crimes across the Country. The profile of organised and non-organised crimes has received intensified boost since the architecture meant to check against them has been subjected to a fate of collapse. The loss of morale on the part of the officers of the Police Force is a major problem that requires strategic approach to address. The rising spate of robbery, kidnapping, banditry, cult clashes among other various forms of communal criminalities and violence have heightened the spate of insecurity in the Country. The phenomenon has instilled panic which is unhealthy for reasonable tranquility, peace and order paramount for cohabitation and business activities.
Dampening to the economy, the heightening of insecurity has deeply worsened the ease-of-doing profile in the Country. The phenomenon from all sides, is unhealthy for the debilitated state of the economy which is heading towards the precipice. The alarming state of economic downturn and its attendant hardship on the populace hold threats of disturbances against the polity.
Two major pillars of the essence of governance as identified by political theorists give premium significance to “Justice and Security.” Where these two pillars are in a state of disarray, the society is plunged into crises amidst the claws of disorder. The security of lives and property is an indispensable responsibility of the Government. The necessity of Justice is an element of government that is non-negotiable to ensure sanity in the Society.
Given the fact of the significant roles that the Police plays in the two major priorities of the Government in ensuring “Justice and security,” it is non-negotiable that reorganising the architecture of the Nigeria Police for effective operations to tame the prevailing circumstances of insecurity in the Country, remains sine qua non if the government of the day must have the ample atmosphere to run the administration of governance to achieve the set objectives. The necessity to position the Nigeria Police Force cannot be over-emphasized in the light of the relevance of the Force in the execution of Justice and the enforcing of law.
It is essential for the Federal Government to make moves towards rebuilding the collapsed structures of the Police. Situation reports across several States are fraught with records of breakdown of Police infrastructures. It is paramount that the Federal Government which is in control of the Force as provided by the Constitution, make pragmatic moves towards rebuilding these structures to restore sanity across the nooks and crannies of the Country. The rising spate of security threats is alarming, it is paramount for the government to rise to the bar to address the situations by revamping the working and operational efficiencies of all the security agencies in the Country. The need to restore sanity in the Country is sine qua non. Since the duty to oversee the Police lies within the exclusive preserve of the Federal Government in Nigeria, it is pertinent that the same rises to the task.
