By Brave Dickson
Police Community Relations Committee (PCRC) in Rivers State has attributed the poorly trained and ill-equipped personnel of the Nigeria Police Force to inadequate funding and called for a change of the narrative.
Speaking at a forum in Port Harcourt, the State Chairman of PCRC, Chief Casca Ogosu said the police have a staff strength of about 371,800, noting that though plans are on the way by the federal government to increase the force’ personnel to 650,000.
Chief Ogosu said: “The 2008 Presidential Committee on Police Reform headed by a one-time retired Inspector General of Police, M.D. Yusuf recommended an estimate of 2.8 trillion naira or 560 billion naira annually to effectively reform and transform the police over a period of five years.
“Also, the Parry Osayande (DIG rtd) Committee constituted in 2012 re-echoed the recommendation of the 2008 Committee, adding that police funding should be made a first line charge or a special fund to be created to accommodate the needs of the police and that all these recommendations have never been looked into by successive governments.”
While citing statement credited to a Lagos based non governmental organization known as Civil Media Lab through its Director, Seun Akinfolarin, the state PCRC leader said: “The 2018 budget of 586,448,863 naira allocated to the police for fuel was grossly inadequate.
“Dividing this amount among the 1,579 police stations across the country implies that each station would be getting 1,017 naira per day for logistics which is very appalling.
“Sadly, the police do not have proper insurance scheme, explaining that each police operative has a poor insurance premium of 923 naira, adding that the appropriation for insurance premium for a year is 278 million naira.
“Violations of the rights of Nigerians by some personnel of the police can be attributed to the lack of professional training caused by low funding, saying that the total appropriation for the training of police personnel in the entire country is 687 million naira which translates into 2,283 naira per police operative.
“Certainly, the cost of effective administration of police formations with staff spread across 12 zones, 36 states of the federation including Abuja, 128 Area Commands, 1,388 Divisional Commands, 1,579 Police Stations and 3,756 Police Posts in the country will be quite enormous.
“Regrettably, most of the operational equipment used by the police such as Armour Personnel Carriers, Operational Vehicles, Body Armours, Communication Equipment among others are provided by state governments, private sectors and individuals which in many ways can negatively affect the independence of the police.
“No wonder IGP Mohammed Adamu during a briefing with the House of Representatives Committee on Police Affairs said policing a country like Nigeria with huge population and large land mass needs enormous funding, adding that in order to maintain neutrality and avoid compromising the performance of the force’ statutory duties, the police should obtain funding from constitutionally recognized sources.”
Chief Ogosu therefore appeal to all relevant stakeholders in the country to prioritize the logistics support of the police so as to enable them provide the needed security of lives and property for the country.
