Security of life and property: Foremost duty of government (3)

IN the previous articles on preservation of life and property, I narrated different measures adopted by man to safeguard life and property at different stages of development up to industrial age including the introduction of British Policing System in Lagos in 1861.  This week, I will examine the development of policing in Nigeria since 1861. The present Nigeria Police Force has its root in the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria which provides as follows:- 214-(1)                There shall be a Police Force for Nigeria, which shall be known as the Nigeria Police Force, and subject to the provisions of this section, no other police force shall be established for the Federation or any part thereof: (2) Subject to the provisions of this Constitution –  (a) the Nigeria Police Force shall be organized and administered in accordance with such provisions as may be prescribed by an Act of the National Assembly;  (b) the members of the Nigeria Police Force shall have such powers and duties as may be conferred upon them by law;  (c) the National Assembly may make provisions for branches of the Nigeria Police Force forming part of the Armed Forces of the Federation or for the protection of Harbours, Waterways, Railways and Air fields.

215 – (1) There shall be –

(a) an Inspector General of Police who, subject to section 216(2) of this Constitution shall be appointed by the President on the advice of the Nigeria Police Council from among serving members of the Nigeria Police Force;            (b) a Commissioner of Police for each State of the Federation who shall be appointed by the Police Service Commission. (2) The Nigeria Police Force shall be under the command of the Inspector-General of Police and any contingents of the Nigeria Police Force stationed in a State shall, subject to the authority of the Inspector-General of Police, be under the command of the Commissioner of Police of that State. (3) The President or such other Minister of the Government of the Federation as he may authorize in that behalf may give to the Inspector-General of Police such lawful directions with respect to the maintenance and securing of public safety and public order as he may consider necessary and the Inspector –General of Police shall comply with those directions or cause them to be complied with.

(4) Subject to the provisions of this section, the Governor of a State or such Commissioner of the Government of the State as he may authorize in that behalf, may give to the Commissioner of Police of that State such lawful directions with respect to the maintenance and securing of public safety and public order within the State as he may consider necessary, and the Commissioner of Police shall comply with those directions or cause them to be complied with. Provided that before carrying out any such directions under the foregoing provisions of this subsection, the Commissioner of Police may request that the matter be referred to the President or such Minister of the Government of the Federation as may be authorized in that behalf by the President for his directions.

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(5) The question whether any, and if so what directions have been given under this section shall not be inquired into in any court. 216 – (1) Subject to the provisions of this Constitution, the Nigeria Police Council may, with the approval of the President and subject to such conditions as it may think fit, delegate any of the powers conferred upon it by this Constitution to any of its members or to the Inspector-General of Police or any other member of the Nigeria Police Force. (2) Before making any appointment to the office of the Inspector-General of Police or removing him from office, the President shall consult the Nigeria Police Council.

From the above constitutional provisions, the following deductions can be made; (1)      The existing Nigeria Police Force has its root in the Nigeria Constitution. (2) No other Police Force can be created or allowed to exist within the country except the Constitution is amended in line with its provision of the Constitution from Section 9 of the 1999 Constitution. (3) The organisation and administration of the Nigeria Police Force are to be strictly in accordance with the prescriptions of the Act of National Assembly comprising the Senate and the House of Representatives. However, apart from the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, other laws exist which regulate generally the activities of the police. There is the Police Act which compliments the Constitution and regulates police actions.

The Police Act is the main law dealing with the organization, discipline, powers and duties of the police. The Police Act is found in Chapter 359 of the Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 1990 and is regarded as an Act of the National Assembly. This, in essence, means that the Act is in line with the provisions of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999. The Police Act took effect from 1st April, 1943. According to Section 3 of the Act, “there shall be established for Nigeria Police Force to be known as the Nigeria Police Force (hereafter in this Act referred to as “The Force”). The above provision is in line with Section 214(1) of the 1999 Constitution. The main rationale for the establishment of the police is provided for in the same Police Act – specifically in Section 4 thereof.

The section provides;

“4. The police shall be employed for the prevention and detection of crime, the apprehension of offenders, the preservation of law and order, the protection of life and property and the due enforcement of all laws and regulations with which they are directly charged, and shall perform such military duties within or without Nigeria as may be required by them or under the Authority of this or any other Act”. The above quoted provisions of the Act constitute, in the main, the kernel of the existence of the police though in a summary form. Section 5 of the Act Cap. 359, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 1990 provides:- “There shall be an Inspector-General of the Nigeria Police, such number of Deputy Inspectors-General, Assistant Inspectors-General as the Nigeria Police Council considers appropriate, a Commissioner for each state of the federation and such ranks as may from time to time be appointed by the Nigeria Police Council”. The inference that can be drawn from the above provisions is that the responsibility of determining the number of Deputy Inspectors-General and Assistant Inspectors-General of Police is vested in the Police Council. Thus, the council is expected to employ the necessary and appropriate yardsticks to so determine the number.

Curious enough, the same Council is expected to determine that of the Inspector-General of Police who is the overall head of the Nigeria Police and the Commissioner of Police for each state of the Federation. It appears from the provisions of section 5 of the Act, that the duty of the Council is to make recommendations and not to appoint the designated officers as this responsibility is that of the political head of the nation. Section 6 of the Act puts the entire police under the command of the Inspector-General of Police while that of each state of the Federation is placed under its respective Commissioner of Police subject to the authority of the Inspector-General.

This in essence means that the State Commissioner of Police is directly responsible and accountable to the Inspector-General of Police. This issue has remained, till date, one of the controversialareas of the law under which the Nigerian Police was set up.  The governors of the states under democratic dispensation especially have cried aloud, times without number, on the lopsided nature of this arrangement. This vexed issue deservesa more objective approach and immediate amendment in view of its critical relevance and importance to security of life and property.

AARE AFE BABALOLA, OFR, CON, SAN, LL.D (Lond.)