RULAAC Calls for Re-evaluation of Laws, Policies Governing the NPF
Citing some recent cases of anti-civic attitudes governing activities of the Nigerian Police (NP), the Rule of Law and Advocacy Accountability Centre ( RULAAC) has called for the re- evaluation of laws and policies governing the police.
It made this call during its recently held stakeholders meeting, involving members of the Nigerian Police and members of the Committee for Defence of Human Right (CDHR) in Lagos State.
Speaking at the event, the chairman RULAAC, Mr. Okechukwu Nwanguma said investigations over the years show that the conduct and operations of the Nigerian Police mostly bear no resemblance to the requirements of the laws governing the operations of the service.
Citing some cases Okechukwu noted that, "Law enforcement requires that some coercive or forceful capability exists to ensure compliance with the law as the police are authorised to use force in certain circumstance, such as effecting arrests or in self- defense.
“From a human rights perspective, when police have authority to use force, including firearms, the most important principle is of proportionality using minimum force. This means that if no force is needed, for example to arrest a person, an officer should not use any force at all; if any force is used, it should be only so much as is strictly necessary to effect the arrest of that person.
“The powers, functions and procedures of the Nigerian Police Force ( NP) are founded on Nigeria’s 1999 constitution and regulated by law thus being the principal law enforcement agency in Nigeria, the Police exist to apply and enforce laws.
“As an institution established by law within the public service, the NP is also governed institutionally by the civil service rules and financial regulations applicable to all federal institutions.
“And thus, to direct the operations and management of the NPF, the Police Act empowers the Inspector General of Police to issue subsidiary legislation through regulations, standing orders, administrative instructions and circulars. All staff of the NP ought to be conversant with and have access to these applicable laws and standards.”
He however noted that in the 2006, Nigerian Police Force report, the Presidential committee on police reform acknowledged that “these important regulatory books that all officers of the NPF must acquaint themselves with are either in short supply or no longer in circulation which resulted in many young officers not being familiar with them to the detriment of their professional competence.
“The Nigerian 1999 Constitution contains, among other guarantees, right to life, liberty, fair hearing and due process; prohibits torture and other cruel, inhuman degrading treatment and gives victims of human rights violations a right of access to courts for redress and remedies.
“The presumption of innocence is the foundation of Police investigation and through investigation, the Police gather evidence with which to rebut the presumption in specific cases.
“But the NPF lacks the infrastructure and skills for skilled investigation and without the infrastructure and skills to support criminal investigation, the NPF is institutionally unable to respect the presumption of innocence nor maintain credible crime records.
“Instead they resort to parading suspects in handcuffs and others killed by them extra-judicially, such as armed robbers to impress the general public that they are working when, at this stage the innocence of the suspects should be presumed and their human rights protected by the police."
Okechukwu concluded that the leaderships of the NPF have acknowledged the principle that the police is created and regulated by law and that, "any form of exercise of police powers which does not strictly conform to the prescriptions of the law can have unpleasant consequences for the NPF as a corporate entity, as well as for the individual Police personnel.
"Subsequent police leaderships have acknowledged the fact that abuse of police powers, abuse of due legal process and unprofessional conduct perpetuate a bad image for the NPF and corrode public trust and cooperation.
"Law enforcement agencies must therefore, conduct themselves in ways that guarantee and invite public support as wrongful law enforcement methods cannot and do not encourage community collaboration and partnership”.