2023: Police Need to up Their Game

It was really shocking to hear the Inspector General of Police, Usman Baba, blaming the increasing incidences of political violence in the country on some state governors. Baba said this during a meeting with the leadership of political parties and other stakeholders on Thursday in Abuja.

Recall that at a recent meeting of the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Electoral Security (ICCES), the National Security Adviser (NSA), Major-General Babagana Monguno (rtd), had disclosed that the country witnessed 52 cases of electoral violence in 22 states in one month. Monguno said President Muhammadu Buhari had given all the security agencies the go-ahead to deal decisively with individuals or groups trying to prevent peaceful conduct of the general election.

But last Thursday, IG at a meeting to engage political parties’ leadership on the increasing trend of political violence and to present a common front in addressing the issues, blamed most incidents of violence on political extremism, misinformation, intolerance, wrong political orientation, hate speeches, incitement and desperation of strategic actors.

According to him, such actors usually give the wrong direction to their party faithful, arm them, reorient them and encourage them to resort to the use of threat, violence, and other extra-legal means to frustrate competing political parties.

A lot of Nigerians were alarmed that such a comment could come from the IG who should order the arrest of the culprits and not lament helplessly or appeal to anyone. Doesn’t he know that political violence in any form is an offence under the Electoral Act and a crime under extant criminal laws of the country? Does he need permission to arrest anybody who contravenes the laws of Nigeria?

Everybody knows that once the police force is fixed to do its job effectively and efficiently, three quarters of the problems in Nigeria would be solved.

Why should a police IG be blaming people for committing crime instead of arresting and prosecuting to serve as a deterrent to others? The failure of the police to address crime is the reason why most people take the laws into their hands.

He should better know that the success of the 2023 general election depends on how effective and efficient the police would be.