“With great power there must also come great responsibility“
– The Peter Parker (Spiderman) Principle
Early October this year, there was an uprising against what was deemed excessive use of force on civilians by officers of the Nigerian Police Force. This is not without good reason as over the years there have been numerous cases of police officers indiscriminately shooting in public in order to establish order, to exert their authority, in pursuit of suspected criminals and whatever other excuse they come up with. The shooting of Tina Ezekwe by police officers in Lagos this year was just the latest in a series of such tragedy that has sadly befallen too many Nigerians.
Police Officers in Nigeria are quite known for indiscriminate shootings. While Nigeria as a nation has a decent gun culture, there are no such restrictions with the Police. They openly carry their firearms wherever and at any occasion. It appears as if their authority depends on the presence of the firearm. The uniform and insignia are clearly not enough to make the people they are tasked to protect respect their authority. They must carry the gun to command it. This disgraceful culture of brazen display and undisciplined use of their firearms lie at the root of the evil of police shootings in Nigeria.
The gun issue did not always exist. Nigeria being a former British colony inherited her policing system from Great Britain. Before the current political system of Nigeria, there were regions and each region was allowed to have and run its own police force. In Western Nigeria as with other parts of the nation, the police were armed with staffs and only issued guns for extreme situations that have escalated to the level of firearms. The staffs that were associated with the police then led the Yoruba people of the West to give them the name Olopa which means “s/he who wield a staff” and that is the Yoruba name for the police till this day.
With the collapse of the regional government into a central government was the absorption of all regional police forces into a central police force which is known to this day as the Nigerian Police Force. This behemoth has a number of offshoots such as the Criminal Investigation Department, Mobile Police Force, now defunct Special Anti-Robbery Squad and others but the most notable change in the new Police is the arming of police officers with firearms usually Kalashnikov Rifles.
On the one hand that ‘Guns don’t kill, people do’, but on the other hand it is important that the Police Force have a high level of discipline that affects their gun use.
It is apparent that Nigerian Police officers are not fully conscious of the devastating effect a single shot from their firearms can have. The writer has witnessed a scene where a policeman entered a pub to drink during the day and he placed his firearm on the table while drinking. I have seen a policeman about to go on duty inhale what appeared to be a stimulant in powdery form before going on patrol and I have been in a bus with a policeman who talked to himself for the entirety of the three hour journey showing signs of mental instability.
These are the same people the government gives live ammunitions in order to “protect and serve” the people. The result of this is evident. The nationwide and largely successful #EndSARS protests were a product of police brutality. Too many people have died as a result of stray bullets fired by police officers in Nigeria.
This has to stop.
The need for a proper psychological evaluation of all police officers before arming them is important but before that is completed, we need to seriously reconsider the principles behind arming the police especially when the situation does not demand firearms.
Police in the United Kingdom especially London are not always armed, Indian police officers are still synonymous with a local variation of batons (Lathi) to this day. It has gotten to the point when we should ask what the police need guns for when on a routine patrol or setting up a road block for random security checks.
The job of the police is to protect civil life and they should be well armed to do that but when the firearms become a menace to public safety, a major review of becomes necessary.
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