The Nigeria Police Force is given the constitutional power to maintain law and order in the country. It is against this backdrop that the Police are referred to as friends of the public.

In the history of contemporary Nigeria, I wonder if there ever has been an organisation as reviled, scorned and derided as the Nigeria Police.

This is the group most people dump their vile on, this is the organisation most people love to slap around. This is the organisation most people just love to hate. It must be disheartening to be a member of the Nigeria Police. They are everywhere, at every checkpoint, at border crossings, at accident scenes, at junctions directing traffic, and at every private and public security post. Their presence appears to annoy a great many Nigerians, even Nigerians who need their services. It is so bad that tourists and new immigrants are warned to be careful of Nigeria Police. How sad!

The history of Nigeria Police is a history of nobility, service and sacrifice. It had a glorious past, but in recent years, however, the Police have come to be known as the bastion of illegality, inefficiency and institutional decadence. It is hard to tell when this negative transformation began, and harder still to pinpoint when Nigeria Police moved from being a pillar of grace and service to a cathedral of debauchery. Be that as it may, it must be painful to think of the Police as the alpha and the omega of all that is wrong with Nigeria.

The Police battle crime and safeguard lives and property of people. It is expected that they should be a readily available source of succour in the event of any trouble. However, the performance of Nigeria Police Force as a law enforcement agency has become a cause for concern to many people.

They have lost the trust bestowed on them by members of the public. Many people criticise the Police as a result of the bad image it has garnered for itself over the years.

They observe that the degeneration and poor performance of the Nigeria Police Force was the outcome of long years of military rule when many people and institutions were neglected by leaders who abandoned public interest for selfish interest.

This led to such problems as under funding, non-provision of necessary equipment and inadequate training and motivation of personnel.

The attendant abject poverty which incompetent military rule brought on the country led to colossal corruption which engulfed the entire society including the Police Force.

Bribery became the order of the day among police officers who rather neglected their duty of enforcing the law to satisfy their personal needs.

Since the return to democratic rule, the Police have continued to perform below expectation even in the face of attempts by the Federal Government to improve the situation. Crime wave has tremendously increased leading to the springing up of neighbourhood vigilante groups who partly or wholly do the job of the Police in their areas of authority.

The Police Force is a part and parcel of a democratic society and must be useful through constructive criticism in the interest of all.

There are various forms of corruption in Nigeria Police Force like institutionalised extortion, profound lack of political will to reform the force and impunity, all of which combine to make police corruption a deeply embedded problem.

One sergeant lamented that corruption is like a disease in all of us.

To extort money, these officers frequently threaten victims and commit human right abuses.

The officers at the roadblocks make little attempt to hide their collection of money, exposing the near total lack of will on the part of senior police officers and government authorities to hold officers accountable.

It is said that these officers who man  the roadblocks and other areas of surveillance must pay their way for “lucrative postings”.

Once there, these officers are told to meet daily or weekly monetary targets for their supervisor, or risk being “punished” with transfer to a position with low extortion potentials.

Another startling revelation is the allegation that most police officers have to personally source funds to fuel and maintain the operational vehicles, they also lack the basic funding for most basic supplies needed for investigation. “We get none of what we need to do our jobs-pens, complaint sheets etc. We buy bail bond sheets, we buy fuel, we buy everything, except arms and ammunition”, a policeman once lamented.

It is time the Nigeria government at all levels took the devastating problem of Police corruption seriously.

The government should start by investigating and removing senior officers who tolerate and encourage extortion and who deprive hardworking members of the force of the resource they need to do their jobs effectively.

The professional competence of police officers would be enhanced through constant training and retraining on security strategies.

Other measures should be taken to motivate officers for better performance.

The Federal Government should organise a public enlightenment campaign geared towards re-orientating the populace on the need to see the Police as part and parcel of a democratic Nigeria and true friends of the public.

On the other hand, a special re-orientation workshop should be organised for police officers to improve their understanding of their duty. In recruitment of officers, special attention should be paid to the professional qualification of the candidates and their worthiness in character.

The Police officers should also undergo public relations training to improve their battered image. The successful implementation of all these strategies would go a long way in improving the performance of police officers.

Ihuaenyi writes from Rivers State Polytechnic, Bori.