Governance, Accountability, and Security in Nigeria
Oluwakemi Okenyodo · 2016
HIGHLIGHTS* Low levels of trust in the Nigerian police limit public cooperation critical to combatting internal security threats from irregular forces such as insurgents, criminal gangs, and extremists.* Allegations of corruption, heavy-handedness, and politicization have dogged the Nigeria Police Force for years. However, a lack of political will has perpetuated a culture of impunity, weak oversight, and an unwillingness to absorb lessons learned from previous efforts at police reform.* Improving the effectiveness of the Nigerian police depends on governance reforms. Depoliticizing the appointment and promotion processes for senior police officers and genuinely empowering oversight bodies are critical steps to opening a sustainable path to reform and rebuilding trust with local communities. HIGHLIGHTSFrom violent extremism and insurgency to piracy, kidnapping for ransom, attacks on oil infrastructure, drug trafficking, and organized crime, Nigeria faces a host of complex security challenges. These threats typically involve irregular forces and are largely societally based. They are most prevalent and persistent in marginalized areas where communities feel high levels of distrust toward the government-often built up over many years. At their root, then, these security challenges are symptoms of larger failures in governance.As many of Nigeria's security threats are domestic in nature, the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) is often the primary security interface with the However, low levels of public trust in the police inhibit the cooperation needed to be effective against these societally based threats.Seventy-two percent of Nigerians surveyed by Transparency International perceived police as corrupt.1 Police commonly demand bribes in their everyday encounters with citizens. Indeed, of the 11,500 people interviewed by the CLEEN Foundation in its National Crime and Safety Survey, 33 percent had paid or had been asked to pay a bribe to the police/ problem of corruption builds on a long legacy. In 2012, then Inspector General of Police Mohammed Abubakar acknowledged the depth of the challenge, The Nigeria Police Force has fallen to its lowest level and has indeed become a subject of ridicule within the law enforcement community and among members of the enlarged public. Furthermore, he noted:Police duties have become commercialized.... Our men are deployed to rich individuals and corporate entities such that we lack manpower to provide security for the common man. Our investigations departments cannot equitably handle matters unless those involved have money to part with. Complainants suddenly become suspects at different investigation levels following spurious petitions filed with the connivance of police officers. Our police stations, State [Criminal Investigations Divisions] and operations offices have become business centres and collection points for rendering returns from all kinds of squads and teams set up for the benefit of superior officers. Our special anti-robbery squads (SARS) have become killer teams engaging in deals for land speculators and debt collectors. Toll stations in the name of checkpoints adorn our highways with policemen shamefully collecting money from motorists in the full glare of the public.3This has broader implications for security. Corruption within the bodies responsible for enforcing the law shapes expectations and tolerance of corruption in a society more generally.4 In such contexts, citizens are more likely to challenge the symbols of authority. Violent crime and conflict are more likely to result.Nigeria's police also have a reputation for heavyhandedness. Arbitrary arrests and lack of due process create an ongoing sense of vulnerability for many citizens. In September 2007, then Inspector General of Police Mike Okiro famously noted that, in his first 100 days, the police had killed 785 robbers in the line of duty while robbers had killed 62 officers. …