*8 reforms priority for Nigeria Police*
By Abdulrazaq Hamzat

1. AK47 should go off the street

Problem: It is an abnormality for Nigerian Police officers to be carrying AK47 around on the streets as if we are in a war zone. World over, small conceable pistol is what police carry, well hidden somewhere in their uniform to avoid giving the public a militarized state of mind. Making AK47 a part of our daily life experience indicates that everything is wrong with our policing and it injures public phychology.

Solution: AK47 should go off our streets, because Nigeria is not a dumping ground for military waste of some other countries.

2. Improved Staff Strength

Problem: There are about 370,000 police officers in Nigeria to 200 million population. If 200 million people is divided by 370,000 police officers, that will be 540. This means that, 1 police officer is given the responsibility of protecting 540 people, which may not be possible.

Solution: Based on the current strength of the police, there's need to recruit double the current number of police officers for the police to operate optimally.

3. Equipments and Capacity Building

Problem: Chronically under-trained, the police are too often unequipped to deal with local security issues, forcing the army to be drafted in. The army is now deployed in thirty of the thirty-six states, mostly doing police work and undercutting the credibility of the NPF.

Solution: Police need to be trained properly and provided with basic equipments such as computers in all divisions and police stations to enable them conduct onspot verification of identity, electronic investigation, data capturing, exchange and verification of information between stations and divisions etc.

4. Ending VIP deployment

Problem: Unable to perform its basic functions to safeguard the community, the police are often used for VIP protection, thereby shortening the number of men to be deployed for community policing.

Solution: Police should end VIP deployment. A special agency for VIP protection should be created and all payments generated from this agency should go directly to government purse.

5. Weed out criminal elements in the police

Problem: A significant number of men of Nigeria Police Force have criminal records.

Solution: Weed out criminal elements in the police. Deal with the estimated 10,000 officers with criminal records hired between 2001 till date.

6. 200% increase in budgetary provisions

Problem: Police is grossly underfunded. No funding for operational logistics, investigation and others, leading to bribery and corruption.

Solution: Improved budgetary provisions to the tune of at least, 200% of the current budget.

7. Independent prosecution of rogue officers

Problem: Many rogue officers involved in extra judicial killings and violation of human rights you have not been properly prosecuted.

Solution: Police should not investigate itself. Set up an independent prosecuting agency for the trial and prosecution of rogue officers.

8. Compensation to victims of police brutality

Problem: Too many Nigerians have become victim of police brutality.

Solution: Provide adequate compensation to victims of police brutality

Abdulrazaq Hamzat