Your Excellency, as you know, the world didn’t start from order; it started from anarchy. The default state of human community is anarchic — survival of the fittest. It was a predatory world with fellow humans as the prey. Therefore, as a prerequisite for modern human organisations, some countries of the world have gradually built up order. Others, especially weak democracies, are struggling to do so. Nigeria falls in this category of struggling nations. If so, Nigeria must do everything possible to strengthen her democratic institutions, including the Nigeria Police Force, for a world of anarchy is an awful place to be.

Lead campaigner of #EndSARS Movement, Mr. Segun Awosanya [Photo Credit: Internet]

The Nigerian police is arguably the most talked about public establishment in the country. What dominates the discussion of most Nigerians on the police is not an outstanding corporate image. What manner of image does the Nigerian Police parade? Any Nigerian who is unaware that the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) is apostatized cannot be exonerated from three facts: being deceitful, simply lying and/or what I can’t describe.

READ MORE: Money will flow in the 2019 elections, much like it did in 2015

Aggravated by insurgency and terrorism, insecurity has dealt convincingly with the NPF. In recent times, the police has suffered losses in personnel, ammunition and properties. I am unaware of any database chronicling these losses in a comprehensive manner. However, here is a randomized data set from the mainstream media to paint a picture for you, Mr. President.

On April 30, 2016; no fewer than 359 policemen were killed on duty between January 2014 and April 2016, the then IGP, Mr Solomon Arase revealed. Arase made this known at a lecture he delivered at the University of Jos, entitled: “Police and Public Partnership in Prevention and Control of Violent Crimes and Conflicts in Nigeria”. He continued, 272 policemen sustained various degrees of injuries within the same period, while intervening in civil conflicts.

On November 24, 2016; the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, described as worrisome, the rate at which officers and men lose their lives in the course of discharging their statutory duties. He stated that in the past three months (September to November), the Force had lost 128 personnel in various parts of the country due to activities of those he labeled undesirable elements.

On June 22, 2018; it was reported that Shi’ite protesters stoned a policeman to death in Kaduna. Recently, on April 06, 2018; a gang of robbers invaded police and bank headquarters in Offa, killing 15 people including nine police officers in Offa, Kwara State.

Your Excellency, that the personnel of the Nigerian police have been murdered or killed in their numbers should not be surprising to close observers. They die almost every day. The heavy casualty usually sustained by the police, does not elicit public outcry because of their unsavory reputation for brutality and human rights violations. The police should protect lives (including their own lives) and properties. Anything to the contrary brings the organisation to disrepute and causes them to be derided. The consistent failure of the NPF to proactively respond to aggression and win public trust in return has contemptuously made its members, especially the dreadful #SARS, to be ridiculed.

President M. Buhari and his Vice, Prof. Yemi Osibanjo at the State House. [Photo Credit: Novo Isioro]

Sir, your disposition to appease Nigerians by ordering that the deadly police unit, SARS, be rebranded to Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (FSARS) is hasty and never persuasive (at least, that is the current perception). The image of the police is terrible; changing their uniforms and nomenclature is convincingly a cosmetic intervention. Security is hindered, not enhanced, in an atmosphere where the police has lost her corporate image — it suggests a systemic decay.

Sir, I expected a re-appraisal of police training and education programmes. A 21st century policing is all about intelligence, thinking and problem-solving. I expected a decentralization that would give way to a multi-level policing that would comprise federal police, state police, local police, and Vigilante. Decentralizing the police would see Nigerians and communities taking ownership of police structures and that would encourage productivity in return. Where a multi-level policing exists, community safety would be habitually guaranteed.

I expected an executive order that would address the welfare and emolument of the personnel. The police should be properly paid for them to maintain the correct appearance at all times and gain public respect as acknowledged by best global practices. Importantly, I expected an executive order that would immediately; declare a state of emergency in the Nigeria police Force. The government should begin enlistment of able-bodied, educated and emotionally intelligent Nigerians into the police. Can’t we see the inherent danger without doing so?

In part, the apparent failures of the police agency have led to a citizens-led movement to see that the Nigerian police is reorganized and reformed. National discussion on the movement to reform the police can be tracked or monitored using: #ReformPoliceNg and #EndSARS, as led by a tireless Nigerian and Lead Campaigner, Segun Awosanya. The indiscriminate assault; human rights violation and varying degrees of brutality by Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) can deteriorate to widespread civil disobedience and lawlessness, if allowed to fester. Can’t the authorities recognize the emergency status of this situation and treat same as such? A comprehensive review of the police is a task that must be done if the imminent condition of anarchy must be halted and reversed.

READ MORE: Saraki for president is a real possibility now, but will he take the bait?

Your Excellency, I was trained first and foremost as an Agricultural Extensionist. It is my desire for rural development, social justice and social change that drove me into activism and #EndSARS movement, just like many other Nigerians. What I have done is pleading together that I may be justified. Changing SARS to FSARS is unsatisfactory, snobbish, offensive and condescending. I call for a comprehensive reformation of the Nigerian police with SARS/FSARS disbanded.

Your Excellency, thank you so much for reading this passionate letter. If this doesn’t get to you directly, I appeal to your uncountable aides to brief you as appropriate. A new Nigeria is possible. The message is clear: #EndSARS and #ReformPoliceNg,

---

Op–ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija

 

Ani, Nwachukwu Agwu is a rural development specialist. He lives in Abuja and works for a social accountability movement — Connected Development. He tweets from @NwachukwuAni.