Nigeria
| Author | George Kurian |
| Pages | 696-703 |
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Official country name: Federal Republic of Nigeria
Capital: Abuja
Geographic description: Located in West Africa on the Gulf of Guinea
Population: 128,771,988 (est. 2005)
The national police developed from early constabularies raised to protect British personnel and their administrative and commercial interests after they assumed responsibility for the port of Lagos in 1861. The imposition of British rule in the country triggered protests and demonstrations that threatened law and order in the new colony. To combat the unrest, the Lagos Police Force was formed, and it was the first modern police force in Nigerian history. As the British expanded their operations to the interior, the size and reach of the force grew proportionately, and additional constabularies were formed to protect the new administrative and trade centers. In the north the Northern Nigerian Constabulary (the Armed Hausa Police) was formed in 1900 when the British assumed responsibility for the protectorate of Northern Nigeria. The Southern Nigeria Police were created in 1906, six years after the proclamation of the colony and protectorate of Southern Nigeria. The Southern Police Unit absorbed the former Lagos Police Force and Niger Coast Constabulary (the Oil Rivers Irregulars, "Court Messengers"), which had operated in the eastern provinces. In 1930 the Northern Constabulary and the Southern Police Force were merged to form the Nigeria Police Force, which then became the federal law enforcement authority.
Before the consolidation of the Nigeria Police in 1930, the colonial government had left the development and organization of police establishments to the three political administrations in the country: the Lagos Colony and the Protectorates of Southern Nigeria and Northern Nigeria. The main reason for the decentralized approach to law enforcement was the need at that time to allow each segment of the federation to organize a defense compatible with local conditions and political climate. As a result, the pattern and extent of development in the three areas differed. Following the amalgamation of all the units of the country into what is now known as Nigeria in 1914, the various departments of the amalgamated protectorates were systematically merged, one after the other. The police were an exception.
Though quite willing to surrender control of the other departments, the lieutenant governors of the protectorates
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were worried about relinquishing control over maintenance of law and order to the new federal administration in Lagos. They saw no reason for such a surrender of power, since there was nothing really technical in police operations that lay beyond their competence. For these regional government heads, control of the regional police establishments afforded enormous leverage, especially in view of the poor communications between Lagos and the rest of the country. The amalgamation was eventually effected in 1930 because the federal government saw the need for a "unified controlling authority over matters of police routine and discipline." The powers that were hitherto exercised by lieutenant governors in the provinces and districts were now vested in the inspector general of police, headquartered in Lagos. It was a shift to unitarymanagement that has lasted to this day.
Local forces with any degree of police authority and organized in typical police fashion did not come into existence until 1943, when the northern and western regions of the country established local government police forces quite distinct from the Nigeria Police. In creating these forces these two regions capitalized on section 105(7) of the Nigerian constitution, which made provision for the maintenance of such a force by local authorities, provided men of the force were employed and deployed only within the area of jurisdiction of the local authority that created it. These local or provincial forces played a major role in helping police remote areas f the country, where the Nigeria Police had little or no presence.
In 1958, after the Federal Republic was inaugurated, the control of the Nigeria Police was placed in the hands of the Federal Government. Appointment of the inspector general of the Nigeria Police and the regional commissioners of police was strictly safeguarded by various constitutional provisions, and the training and equipment of all police forces were coordinated by a federal police organization.
Sections 98 to 103 of the Nigerian constitution accordingly provided that:
The Nigeria Police shall be under the command of the inspector general of the Nigeria Police, and any contingents of the Nigeria Police Force stationed in a region shall, subject to the authority of the inspector general of the Nigeria Police, be under the command of the commissioner of police of that region. The prime minister may give to the Inspector General of the Nigeria Police such directions with respect to the maintaining and securing of public safety and public order as he may consider necessary, and the inspector general shall comply with those directions or cause them to be complied with.
The commissioner of police of a region shall comply with the directions of the premier of a region with respect to the maintaining and securing of public safety and public order within the region or cause them to be complied with, provided that before carrying out any such directions, the commissioner may request that the matter should be referred to the prime minister for his directions.
Despite these constitutional provisions, the northern and western regional governments refused to amalgamate their forces with the Nigeria Police. Amalgamation, however, was accomplished after the Nigerian Army stepped into the political arena and ousted the recalcitrant politicians. The military government set up a study group to examine all police-related issues and it recommended the gradual integration of all local forces into the Federal Nigeria Police. In 1968 this amalgamation was achieved when the first group of federal police officers reported for training at the Police College in Lagos in 1968. By March 1969 the process had been completed for all forces in the Western State, and within a few years it was complete for all Nigeria.
Headquarters of the Nigeria Police is in Lagos and is under the command of the inspector general of police, who is assisted by a deputy inspector general. Its staff operations are supervised by assistant inspectors general.
The duties of the commissioner of police at force headquarters are split into five departments, tagged alphabetically from A to E, each under the command of an assistant inspector general. The functions of these departments are as follows:
Department A is responsible for general administration, including all matters concerning personnel, assignments, transfers, promotions, leaves, and disciplinary action.
Department B is the communications branch that supervises operation of the nationwide police radio network that links all state police commands with force headquarters. It is also responsible for operations and transportation, traffic control, and the central motor vehicles registry. This branch also monitors government vehicle licensing policy as it affects the police force.
Department C is responsible for general financial matters and buildings, work, and capital development. It formerly included pay and quartermaster services, but these functions are now performed by the accounts/internal audit wing of the administration.
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Department D is responsible for criminal records and investigation. Of the various specialized developments assigned to the national headquarters, the largest is the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), which is responsible for the application of scientific methods to the prevention and detection of crime.
Department E is the Special Branch, responsible for internal security and countersubversive activities. It gathers intelligence and infiltrates extreme groups engaged in terrorism.
Except for special functions...
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