The Nigeria Police has reacted to a report released online by the
2016 World Internal Security and Police Index (WISPI) and the
International Police Science Association (IPSA) describing the Nigerian
Police Force as the worst in the world. The report claims to have
measured the ability of the police to address internal security issues
in 127 countries in four key areas of capacity, process, legitimacy, and
outcomes.
In a swift reaction, the spokesperson of the Nigeria Police
Force, Jimoh Moshood in a statement released, said the Nigeria Police is
the best in Africa and one of the best in the world. Moshood said the
ranking is not only false but very misleading. According to him,
the report did not consider various training and re-training that the
force has been empowered with by both local and foreign organisations.
“Nigeria Police Force is the best in UN Peace Keeping Operations, the
best in Africa, one of the best in the world. The Force rejects the
report as unempirical and absolute falsehood, should be disregarded and
discountenanced. The report did not take into cognisance the significant
improvement in the areas of capacity building, training and re-training
of the entire personnel of the Force as provided for by the current
Federal Government of Nigeria and other foreign and local NGOs which has
greatly improved the efficiency and service delivery of the personnel
of the Force throughout the country,” he said.
The statement added that the instrument used to evaluate the
performance of the Nigeria police force in comparison to that of other
countries is inadequate and that the Nigeria Police Force currently
ranks as the best UN peacekeeping operations in the world.
Read the full statement below
The attention of the Nigeria Police Force has been drawn to The Cable
News Online of today, 10th November, 2017 captioned “NIGERIA POLICE
RATED WORST IN THE WORLD”, on the 2016 World Internal Security and
Police Index (WISPI) credited to two (2) bodies, The International
Police Association and the Institute for Economics and Peace. The report
claimed to have measured the ability of the Police to address Internal
Security Issues in 127 Countries in four (4) key areas of Capacity,
Process, Legitimacy and Outcomes.
2. The Nigeria Police Force after a careful study of the report and
the news items emanating from it, wishes to state categorically that the
report is entirely misleading, a clear misrepresentation of facts and
figures and essentially unempirical, considering the area of coverage of
the report which was said to have been carried out in 2016 by the above
mentioned associations.
3. The report did not take into cognisance the significant
improvement in the areas of Capacity Building, Training and Re-training
of the entire personnel of the Force as provided for by the current
Federal Government of Nigeria and other Foreign and Local NGOs which has
greatly improved the efficiency and service delivery of the personnel
of the Force throughout the country.
4. It is pertinent to state that the instruments used to evaluate the
performance of the Force vis-à-vis that of other countries is
absolutely incorrect and grossly inadequate and therefore a plain
distortion of facts and figures. The strength of about Three Hundred and
Seventy Thousand (370,000) Police Personnel in the country stands at
around One (1) Policeman to less than Six Hundred (600) people in a
population estimates of One Hundred and Eighty Millions (180,000,000)
Nigerians.
5. It is equally significant to state that the current recruitment of
additional Ten Thousand (10,000) Police Personnel into the Force by the
Federal Government of Nigeria and the request by the Inspector General
of Police to Government for approval of the recruitment of Thirty One
Thousand (31,000) Police Personnel yearly for a period of 5years will
definitely increase the strength of the Force to meet up with the UN
ratio of One (1) Policeman to Four Hundred (400) citizens.
6. Furthermore, in the UN Peace Keeping System, the Nigeria Police
Force is rated as the best in UN Peace keeping operations in the world.
This clearly shows that the Nigeria Police Force is not and cannot be
the worst in the world under any known scientific yardstick or measuring
instrument.
7. Currently, the Nigeria Police Force is one of the only two African
Delegates representing the whole of Africa continent on the executive
committee of Interpol, a position the Force attained based on high
performance, merit and sustained good track records.
8. For avoidance of doubt, since the inception of the present Police
administration in July 2016, the Inspector General of Police, IGP
Ibrahim K. Idris NPM, mni, he has introduced and implemented diverse
internal reforms aimed at improving capacity building and efficient
service delivery of the personnel of the Force, which is yielding
positive results in the standardization of the capability of the Nigeria
Police Force to deal with violent crimes and terrorism throughout the
country. The establishment and take-off of a world class Terrorism
Investigation Bureau for the Force with state-of-the-art equipment and
technical support from foreign partners has greatly improved the
capacity of the Force to deal with threats posed to internal security in
this regard.
9. However, it must be pointed out that the Nigeria Police Force sees
the report as a clear demonstration of mischief, ignorance and
calculated attempt to distort the feat being recorded by the Force in
ensuring adequate security and safety of Nigerians. Nowhere in the
report were references made to either the improved capacity or
achievements recorded by the Nigeria Police Force across the country in
the recent time, the Force therefore implores all Nigerians and
international community to disregard the report as unfounded and
misleading.
10. The renewed determination of the Force to adhere to Internal
Police Reforms for greater efficiency in service delivery and conform to
standard principles, building trust and confidence in the citizenry for
their safety remain unequivocal and unwavering.
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