Without adequate Police, Nigeria can’t know peace!

SIR: Despite the constant restructuring, reformation and reorganisation of the Nigeria Police Force from 1930 to date, Nigeria Police are not up to 370, 000, a multifaceted country with a projected population of about 300 million and above. How could peace be achieved in Nigeria? This is grossly inefficient considering the 2016 United Nations projection of 100,000 population per police officer. To meet this standard, Nigeria needs to have an average of 2.5 million police officers across the nation to ensure effective policing.

The Nigeria Police Force, as the leading law enforcement agency in Nigeria and one of the security agencies closest to the population

shouldn’t be undermined if it is to maintain la ws and order, internal security and to protect the lives and properties of the Nigerian within the shores of the nation.

On the other hand, on top of its inadequacy, the agency has been classified as one of the most corrupt and inefficient security agencies in Nigeria. The police have suffered from extreme corruption at t he hands of some unscrupulous elements for many years. Many towns and villages with huge populations have zero police officers as such many people are vulnerable to insecurity.

Undoubtedly, most of the villages and towns raided by Bok o Har am, banditr y and kidnappers among other insurgent groups, happened as a result of the inadequacy of the police personnel to give the needed protection to the people during the onslaught. It means that the Nigerian police are insufficient to give the current population security.

I embarked on a journey recently from Bauchi to Kano and passed through some parts of Kaduna State. It’s an unforgettable adventure as the villages, I went through had no police outputs and talk less of an officer.

Fatima Shu’aibu wrote from the Department of Mass Communication, Borno State University.