It is good news that the
authorities of the Nigerian Police Force (NPF) now appreciate the need to focus attention on the indiscriminate use of firearms by personnel of the force. The Inspector-General of Police, Mr Solomon Arase, recently disclosed that the Nigerian Police Force is considering conducting psychiatric test on recruits and serving officers, saying that the initiative became necessary following incidents of indiscriminate use of firearms by its personnel. The force is also considering establishing a Trauma Centre for its officers because of the nature of their job.
The issue of indiscriminate abuse of firearms by the personnel of the NPF has since become a major topic and problem and unless something urgent is done to limit or stop it, it will become an ugly menace. The attitude of personnel of the NPF has become incomprehensible in magnitude and the best approach to it has surfaced as the problem now poses a challenge to the authorities of the force. The personnel of the Police Force have killed so many innocent armless and helpless citizens of this country through deliberate acts and accidental discharges.
It will be recalled that the Inspector-General of Police, Mr Solomon Arase, had advised Divisional Police Officers (DPOs) to always determine the mental awareness of officers before assigning firearms to them to curtail incidents of accidental discharge and stressed the need to develop a health policy for the force.
The causes of this menace are legion or many ranging from psychiatric to alcoholism. Another problem with the Nigerian police personnel is the rationale provided for them by their principals or senior officers who often defend and give them cover when they commit criminal offences.
Sometimes, their attitude is caused by the society and their unwillingness to abide by the rules as well as their tendency to shrug the bizzarre behaviour that frequently results. Intolerance is another major cause of their behaviour.
Police personnel easily fall to minor tormentation which leads them to devour a helpless civilian and most of them seem not to pray before leaving the home for the day’s work that they be led by the spirit of God and on returning home. Some drink while on duty and lost their mentality and memory. They are easily irritated by the slightest mistake of the armless and feel untouched.
Some police have a growing irritation with members of the public and possess the sense of failure, shifting feelings of superiority and inferiority. They need a great change of attitude as public servants toward innocent citizens. The police must be concerned about the mental health of officers. The police is a normal individual who should reason with his fellow beings instead of being hostile and taking irrational steps at all times, either under the influence of alcohol or mental imbalance, in an effort to correct or control an offender.
The search for the causes of their misbehaviour has run a familiar path. Psychiatric explanations attribute  their behaviour to inner conflict while sociological explanations see the pressures of society causing personal anxiety that ultimately leads them to uncontrolled temper. It may be difficult to discern a direct cause-and-effect relationship but more than sixty percent of the police personnel in Nigeria drink. Although all of them are subject to the pressure of society and perhaps mental retardation, some are tolerant and reasonable. Some lost mentality as a result of the drugs they consume.
Furthermore, one of the accompanying problems is that the authorities seem relatively unconcerned about the behaviour of their rank and file. Two reasons can be adduced (1) that the low rank ones are doing no more than imitating their senior ones (2) that the senior officers are often relieved that their subordinates are representing them well in the society. A combination of circumstances makes the police to be vulnerable to indiscriminate abuse of guns. In addition to the growing acceptability of alcohol, the police personality is full of bravado-a way of behaving that is intended to impress his principals or senior offices, afraid to “lose face” with his peers or colleagues, and sure that his ability to hold his influence is a sign of bravery. These can make the policeman susceptible to excessive action.
The police authorities seem unable to cope with the problems of their personnel. As we have seen, they often refuse to recognise the rights of the citizens when a policeman errs or violates such rights. The police officers diagnose problems of right abuse on an individual as a minor ailment, but they still resent it.
Fifty percent of all mental illnesses are curable when patients are given early professional psychiatric treatment. Families and the police should take mentally ill persons or those who have partial disconnect to the hospital and not to recruit them into the force. The police should not hide those they should sack if found to have one mental illness or another.
They should engage their personnel in routine or regular education on how not to use the firearms assigned to them. Their job might be stressful, so they should  be told how to control or manage their temperament and to have some rest. In this part of our world, extreme stressful situation is major trigger to people developing mental challenge.
Thanks be to God that the police are now beginning to see the problem of abuse of firearms by their men. It has grown more acute and becoming more critical. Frequently, police officers tried to defend offenders, so we now expect that everything will be done to avoid or stop those devilish practices associated with indiscriminate use or abuse of firearms and cases of accidental discharge.
The police are meant for the security of lives and properties of the citizens, a very vital role, so the authorities should not be afraid to face the reality of their job and also ensure the welfare and health of their personnel. The force should regularly organize workshop and seminar for its personnel to remind them of their excesses and educate them on how to avoid those behaviours. The plan to subject police personnel to psychiatric test is a move in the right direction, which should be accomplished in the interest of the force and the country.

Shedie Okpara