Policing and Crime Control in Contemporary Nigeria: An Agenda for Reform

Crime and insecurity are major challenges of contemporary Nigerian society, with the barrage of various forms of criminal behaviours, including: terrorism, political violence, ethno-religious and communal violence, unbridled corruption, politically-motivated assassinations, murder, violent crimes, kidnapping for money, and robbery. Efforts by security agents to solve the problems have not yielded the desired results. The inability of the Nigeria Police to effectively tackle the problem has made people to question the capacity/competence of the police, and also casting aspersions on the quality of governance. Recently, the military was drafted to support the fight against terrorism. In response to the problem, some ethnic militia have sprung up, with some serving as “local police” in communities. Nigeria currently operates a unitary/centralized policing system, but there have been calls for the establishment of state police – separate from the federal police. Increasingly, communities and individuals do not wholly entrust their security to the police, and there have been local community actions against crime, including street barricades and the restriction of vehicular and pedestrian access at certain times. While the informal policing outfits have been playing positive roles with security control, the relationships between them and the police have not been entirely cordial.

Drawing from recent challenges, issues and experiences with the war against crime and insecurity (including terrorism), this paper discusses the policing and security structures in Nigeria, as well as the relationship/collaboration between the various security units. Suggestions are made for more effective policing in Nigeria, including greater collaboration/partnership between the formal policing system and the informal policing structures. The paper also advocates greater collaboration between the police and the public for a more successful campaign against crime in Nigeria.