The Nigeria Police

By Fred Itua, Abuja. Former chairman of the Police Service Commission (PSC) and the first civilian to hold the position since 1999, Mr Simon Okeke in this ...

I said it is better for the country to allow each state have its police and allow governors to control them. If the DIGs are in charge of the zones, Commissioners and the rest will report to him and the IGP will have enough time to attend to operational matters. The powers of the IGP is too enormous. I did that and wrote to the IGP to take back someone. People always say that Nigeria is under policed based on the recommendations of the United Nations that one police is to every 400 citizens. It became worse when I left to the extent that the police boss and the PSC are now in court. The IGP will always refuse to accept the authority of the chairman of PSC. Whoever becomes the IGP takes it upon himself to declare a war on the chairman of PSC. I pressed and pleaded for the welfare and take home of Police officers. When I came into office, I traveled and realised that Nigeria Police was the least paid in the world. That constitutes one of the problems of the Force today. I was able to get the six geopolitical zones to have a sense of belonging by getting the President to appoint six Deputy Inspector-Generals of Police (DIGs).