Abstract
This study is on the usefulness of the Nigeria police in crime control: assessment of Nigeria system. The total population for the study is 200 staff of Nigeria police force in some selected local government in Lagos state. The researcher used questionnaires as the instrument for the data collection. Descriptive Survey research design was adopted for this study. A total of 133 respondents made sergeants, superintendents, senior officers and junior officers were used for the study. The data collected were presented in tables and analyzed using simple percentages and frequencies
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
The increasing role of the Police has become an important factor in the present day Nigeria. Crime wave has blown to alarming proportion and every citizen endeavors to safeguard the properties of his own seat. In the process, efforts are made by the Police to provide services that in effect cement over some of the cracks in the structure of the society (Bunyard, 1999). Police activities and tasks have expanded and become tougher with changing trend but police objectives have remained unaltered. Government instrumentalities should be assessed periodically with regards to their function – performance (Igbinovia, 1982). First, the huge sums of public money expended on them capitally and recurrently, require some adequate accounting in terms of delivery services. Second, the important nature of the functions assigned them means that ineffectiveness in performance will have adverse or debilitating consequences on the system. Third, assessment has the significant value of measuring the efficiency with which functions are performed, the degree of fit between means employed and ends sought, and the lost benefits involves in identification of obstacles to effectiveness and efficiency and the suggestion of adequate and appropriate remedies(Igbinovia, 1982; Karimu, 1999). The need for assessment is particularly crucial in a developing country like Nigeria where we have new but simultaneously burgeoning social problems whose nature, patterns, and management demand new strategies; where instrumentalities and personnel concerned with these problems are relatively new and inexperienced; where a myriad of needs competes for very scarce resources with myriad of problems and where there is no long standing concern for research and professional competence to guide policy(Igbinovia, 1982; Karimu, 1999). The Nigeria Police Force as it is known is the major organ that is saddled with responsibility of crime prevention and control in the country, but the burgeoning crime and the sophistication with which it is executed makes the functions of the Nigeria Police Force very cumbersome and arduous. This situation is aggravating considering the low morale of members of the police force and the numerous external and internal problems confronting the agency which include manpower shortages, lack of essential police equipment and quality of police personnel (Igbinovia, 1982; Karimu, 1999). According to Igbinovia (1982) the external factors are those about which the police as an organization have little influence; for example, the overall budgetary allocations which are made in competition with other government organs, by politicians and bureaucrats. Such things as manpower shortages, lack of equipment, funds, etc. are problems that come to the police and limit their capacity to perform the task of crime prevention and control effectively (Igbinovia, 1982; Karimu, 1999). Yet other problems are much more amenable to police control. For example, police behavior and conduct during their work, the content and extent of the training they receive, the control superiors exercise over patrol men, and the degree of corruption within the agency, all constitute internal factors. Many of the internal factors are actually exacerbated or are brought about the external factors (Igbinovia, 1982). The crime problem in Nigeria has assumed a serious dimension despite the fact that official statistics down play the problem to a minimal level. This situation may explain why affluent people have resorted to hiring private security system which was hitherto foreign to the country to protect them, their family and property. Additionally, as a result of the crime situation the confidence people used to have in the police especially in the prevention and control of crime has waned considerably. No governmental agency in Nigeria except the defunct National Electric Power Authority has been so severely criticized as the Nigeria Police for not living to its responsibilities and expectations (Igbinovia, 1982; Karimu, 1999). Police criticisms in Nigeria generally center on the quality of the police personnel, their ineffectiveness and inefficiency in carrying out their tasks especially in preventing and controlling crime, manpower shortages, poor police attitudes and response to citizens’ lack of essential police equipment and facilities and constant conflict and tension between the police and the citizenry. Another area which has also resulted in efficiency in the police ability to effectively carry out its primary assign duties of crime prevention and control and which has further alienated the agency from the citizenry is the amount of corruption that exist in the agency.
The Nigeria Police is saddled with the responsibility of maintenance of law and order. It also protects, prevents and investigates criminal activities. In the discharge of these duties, the force has over the years failed. This is by virtue of certain inherent problems and challenges that has militated the force in its application of its powers as have been statutorily provided. On this background the researcher wants to investigate the usefulness of the Nigeria police in crime control: An assessment of Nigeria system
The objectives of the study are;
- To examine the role of the Nigeria Police in crime control in Nigeria
- To identify the inadequacies of the police in the discharge of their functions.
- To proffer practical solutions for combating crimes in Nigeria.
- To ascertain the usefulness of Nigeria police in crime control
For the successful completion of the study, the following research hypotheses were formulated by the researcher;
H0: there is no role of the Nigeria Police in crime control in Nigeria
H1: there is role of the Nigeria Police in crime control in Nigeria
H02: there is no usefulness of Nigeria police in crime control
H2: there is usefulness of Nigeria police in crime control
- SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
This research work will be of immense benefit to the Nigeria Police Force in particular and to the general public (Nigerians). It will also help the authorities of the Nigeria Police Force to know more about their roles, their problems and some suggested solutions to their problems. Government will also find this research useful as it will help them to know the areas in which they should offer adequate help to the police as to effectively carry out their constitutional roles. In addition, students and lecturers will also benefit from this research work, as it will help them, in making research about the police. The citizens will also be able to know the importance of supporting the police especially as it concerns giving them information about criminal and criminal hideouts.
- SCOPE AND LIMITATION OF THE STUDY
The scope of the study covers the usefulness of the Nigeria police in crime control: An assessment of Nigeria system. The researcher encounters some constrain which limited the scope of the study;
- a) AVAILABILITY OF RESEARCH MATERIAL: The research material available to the researcher is insufficient, thereby limiting the study
- b) TIME: The time frame allocated to the study does not enhance wider coverage as the researcher has to combine other academic activities and examinations with the study.
- c) Organizational privacy: Limited Access to the selected auditing firm makes it difficult to get all the necessary and required information concerning the activities
1.9 DEFINITION OF TERMS
USEFULNESS: The quality or fact of being useful.
NIGERIA POLICE: The Nigerian Police formerly The Nigeria Police Force is the principal law enforcement agency in Nigeria with a staff strength of about 371,800.
CRIME CONTROL: Crime control refers to methods taken to reduce crime in a society. Penology often focuses on the use of criminal penalties as a means of deterring people from committing crimes and temporarily or permanently incapacitating those who have already committed crimes from re-offending.
THE USEFULNESS OF THE NIGERIA POLICE IN CRIME CONTROL: AN ASSESSMENT OF THE NIGERIAN SYSTEM
