Is so shameful that
the Nigerian police that are suppose to fight corruption are the same
people violating it,money is not fort coming to maintain a station is
not an accuse and that is so unacceptable .
Meager allocations
from the Federal Government that has refused to decentralize the Police
is putting Nigeria police stations at the mercy of charity from
communities and dirty money from criminals.
“Unknown to us,
this hotelier was engaging in commercial sexual exploitation of
juveniles in the hotel. We were shocked to learn about this and
initially it was very hard for us to take a decision due to the support
he had been rendering to the police station," said a DPO.
Temitayo Famutimi
reports that for whoever wants to know why inefficiency is the lot of
the Nigeria Police, the starting point may be to closely watch the state
of things at police stations across the country. Apart from the poor
physical state of many of them, they are largely run on charity.
By the way, how
much should a police station, which ought to be always battle-ready in
all ramifications, since security problems can arise any time, have in
its coffer at every point in time? Well, investigations by our
correspondent shows that some of the police stations in Nigeria get as
low as N35,000 as allocation from the force headquarters per quarter.
Besides, Nigerians
who have at one time or the other had a reason to report an incident at a
police station are no longer new to the demands from the policeman on
duty, asking them to part with sums between N500 and N1, 000 before
their statement can be taken.
Even after taking
such statements and there is a need to make an arrest of those reported,
the policeman on duty asks the complainant to drop another N2, 000 to
fuel the police patrol vehicle.
A cross section of
DPOs who spoke to our correspondent on the condition of anonymity say
the development poses a dilemma and, indeed, a threat to the operations
of the security agents.
Besides, despite
the Inspector-General of Police’s order outlawing police check-points on
highways, policemen are still occasionally sighted at some strategic
highways across the country, mounting roadblocks and extorting money
from the motoring public.
The reasons why
this development has continued to be a regular feature of policing in
the country, according to men and senior officers of the police, is as a
result of the paltry sum of money being allocated to run police
stations.
They declare that
many of them run the affairs of police stations from the proceeds of
bribes collected by men who go on regular patrols as well as
philanthropic gestures of members of the public.
But a new twist to
this development is that criminals are joining other law abiding
citizens to contribute to the running of police stations in the country.
A DPO serving in
the Ogun State Police Command explains that depending on members of the
public for effective policing is not only risky but also against the
principles of policing. Describing the majority of such philanthropic
gestures as a Greek gift, the senior police officer says experience has
shown that many of these donors usually have skeletons in their
cupboards.
Buttressing his
argument with what transpired in his area of jurisdiction, he explains
that an hotelier who had taken up the responsibility of paying for the
monthly subscription of the DSTV in the police station was, initially
unknown to him, doing so as a cover for his child abuse activities in
his hotel.
He says, “My men
didn’t have the gut to take actions because they were unsure if they had
the moral right to arrest a staunch supporter of the station. My men
had to await my arrival at the station before a decision to raid the
hotel had to be taken.
“Expectedly, the
subscription for the DSTV stopped and, ever since, I foot the bill from
my purse whenever I have enough money to spare."
Investigations by
Punch reveal that police stations receive quarterly allocations from
state commands, after the latter would have got reimbursements from the
Force Headquarters, Abuja.
A senior police
source at the Ogun State Police Command headquarters in Abeokuta also
confided in our correspondent that the quarterly allocation the command
receives from the Force Headquarters fluctuates between N450, 000 and
N650, 000.
This amount, it was
gathered, is meant for catering for the needs of the 46 police stations
and the five area commands in the state for three months. The amount,
it was learnt, is not distributed equally among the police stations as
criteria such as the size of the police station and the crime wave in
the station’s area of jurisdiction were being used to determine how much
each station receives.
A Divisional Police
Officer in the Command, who claims to be receiving one of the highest
quarterly allocations, says his division receives between N35, 000 and
N40, 000 every three months.
This amount,
according to him, is meant to cover fuelling of patrol vehicles,
generators, stationeries, communication, and other expenses incurred by
the police station during the three-month period.
The DPO, who also
pleads anonymity because he is not in a position to speak to the press,
explains that the allocation for a typical quarter is not even enough to
fuel the patrol vehicles in the station for three days, let alone
covering the whole expenses for three months.
He says, “It is
very difficult to run a police station as a DPO without your men
engaging in corrupt practices. How do you run a police station without
funds? To describe the allocations we get quarterly as inadequate is to
say the least.
“I get less than
N40,000 to cater for my running costs quarterly, and, as a matter of
fact, to run a truly motorised patrol, for instance, you will need about
40 litres of petrol in 24 hours for a patrol van and this amounts to
N3, 840 daily. In this division, we have four patrol vehicles and this
makes it N15,360 daily.
“If we decide to
spend the allocation only on petrol, the money wouldn’t last more than
three days. So, where do we get the money to make up for the huge
shortfalls? Am I in the position to tell policemen who incessantly
complain of poor salaries to donate money to run the affairs of the
station?”
In Lagos, the Lagos
State Security Trust Fund, a public-private partnership established by
law in 2007, has been useful in this regard. The LSSTF intervention
ranges from acquisition of police equipment, purchasing of patrol
vehicles and their maintenance.
However, a senior
police officer in the state, explains that patrol vehicles whose
maintenance bill is footed by the LSSTF are those attached to the Rapid
Response Squad, noting that other vehicles in police divisions are left
in care of DPOs to maintain from the quarterly allocation.
The police officer
explains that the quarterly allocation given to police stations in the
state is between N45, 000 and N80, 000, depending on the size of the
police station and the crime wave in the area the station is situated.
He adds, “Police
funding is a problematic issue and there is no way the police will
perform magic with the way we are being funded. For my division, I get
an allocation of N45, 000 quarterly. Just tell me what that money can
cover out of the needs of the station for a total of 90 days?.
“Apart from
fuelling of patrol vehicles and generators to power the police station,
we incur expenses on stationeries. This is especially because the police
are not ICT-compliant. As a result, we often beg for assistance from
members of the public.’’
According to
investigations, DPOs are usually in the habit of holding save-our-souls
meeting with the members of the community in their jurisdiction to
solicit for help to run the affairs of the station.
In such meetings,
it was gathered, community development associations, owners of small
businesses, among others, usually take up one or two responsibilities of
catering for the needs of such police stations.
One of the DPOs in
Lagos State Police Command told our correspondent that when he assumed
office, in one of such meetings, he begged the stakeholders in the
community who raised money to buy blocks, pay for the labour costs as
well as foot the bill for fixing a gate around the station’s fence.
He says, “For you
to succeed as a DPO there is no way you won’t live your life as if you
are a beggar because money won’t be forthcoming from the top to make
ends meet. And who are you to ask questions? When you are invited to a
meeting with your boss, maybe at the Area Commander or Commissioner of
Police, and issues bordering on finance come up, the best you can do is
to say ‘yes sir, I’ll manage, sir.
“When I resumed at
my duty post I specifically made the areas of needs of the station known
to the various stakeholders in the community. At the end of the day,
some private citizens and managers of firms were the ones who erected
the fence of the station.”
He adds that after
much persuasion, two managers of the petrol stations in the area had
been providing the station with 50 litres of petrol per week. The
Officer in Charge of Patrol and Guard goes around taking delivery of the
fuel every Monday.
“And when the fuel
finishes, the boys know how to go about getting the patrol vehicle
refuelled because the work has to be done,” he adds.
A source in Akwa
Ibom State Police Command explains that the situation is not different
from other state commands. He however notes that the local government
chairmen provide some monthly allowances to support police stations in
their domains.
Also, a police
source adds that the case of many states in the northern part of the
country is usually worsened by the presence of many police posts under
police divisions.
Another source at
the Police Force Headquarters says the Police Public Relations Officers
in the various state commands are worse off as their offices are not
entitled to any allocations from the Force Headquarters.
The source adds
that the PPROs in the various commands live at the mercy of the
commissioners of police in their respective states.
The source notes,
“The IG is just trying to work around something and find a way of
including that office in the scheme of things to function appropriately.
What about officers who get transferred to new police commands? The
allowance they are entitled to in lieu of accommodation at that new desk
for 30 days is not often even paid.
“Nigerian police
officers and men are suffering in silence and yet we are expected to
perform some magic. There are no two ways to it: The Federal Government
and the National Assembly should commit more funds to the police for
effective policing of the country."
When contacted, the
acting Force Public Relations Officer, Mr. Frank Mba, a Chief
Superintendent of Police, confirmed the plight of the DPOs across the
country.
According to him,
the challenges are not peculiar to one particular state stressing that
the state of police stations across the country are pathetic.
He adds that the
Force Headquarters is constrained and cannot fund the various police
divisions, area commands and state commands appropriately because, “we
cannot give what we don’t have."
Mba advises
officers and men of the Nigeria Police to do everything “humanly
possible,” to do the job well despite the “challenges and constraints”.
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