Usman Baba: Police’s Performance Better in 2023 Than in Previous Polls

Why Police Officers Behave Well on Foreign Missions

Trust  Level Between Police, Public Low

About two years into his tenure, the Inspector General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba, believes that the Nigerian Police Force has moved a notch higher, since he assumed office in February 2021. In this interview with THISDAY, Baba opened up on some of the roadblocks stagnating the police, the unsavoury public perception and the sacrifices of the officers. He also touched on the police’s controversial role in the 2023 elections, among several other matters. Excerpts:

Tell us about the operational readiness of the police. How prepared are the police under your leadership to deal with the menace of crime, violence and other vices that are currently plaguing the country?

The Nigerian police, under my leadership, have some agendas to be achieved by the grace of God – in terms of administration, operation and investigation, and other necessary things that have to be done to improve the situation. Since I came in, operationally, I constituted a committee to look into the current crisis, mapping or geo-locating crime and criminality. 

And based on that, the committee found out the issue of IPOB and ESN in the South-East. In the South-south, we have the issue of pipeline vandalism and crude oil theft, etc. Also, in the South-west, the issue of various crimes, kidnappings and all sorts of crimes that are related, and so forth.  So also in the North Central, North East and North West, and based on that, I launched an operation called ‘Operation Restore Hope’.

In that operation, which has gone on in the last three to five months, we have dealt with the situation drastically and have achieved some success. Though we couldn’t eliminate it, we have been able to mitigate it to a large extent. As you may well know, this is a continuous process. So, as ‘Operation Restore Hope’ went on, we quickly established that one of the things that will make it much more effective is the ability to provide operatives with tools to work. 

Therefore, the management sat down and thought of requesting funds from the president to improve our arsenal. Mr President quickly approved that, and we were given intervention funds to buy arms and ammunition, riot equipment, protective gear, and bulletproof vests to support our tactical operations. We have been able to acquire about 48 armoured personnel carriers. That gave us the ability to fight.

Operationally, we have also encouraged synergy with other sister agencies, including security and safety. We also launched our community policing so that the community owns the police and have encouraged the people to voluntarily come out to assist the police in crime prevention within their area. 

We are also into training and re-training to improve capacity in terms of agility and preparedness, including how to handle arms and ammunition. We have also improved our technical capacity by employing a lot of tools that are scientifically based in terms of tracking, geo-locating, etc. 

How much have you done about police officers’ welfare, because this is a central issue in boosting their morale?

That has also been a paramount thing since I came in. I was the DIG in charge of finance and administration, of which all members of the rank and file are concerned. For instance, we provide them with accoutrement, uniforms, etc. We looked into the remuneration. We succeeded in making some increments. The president approved an increment in our salaries, which has been effected, and the last batch of the force, which had not got has now got the increment. We have been able to pay everybody this month. So, the new salary scale is on course, and everybody is happy.

Regarding accommodation, we have been able to look at our places of abode and work. Therefore, the operational funds, which I was able to float from the government, we have used to provide modern police stations, which we started to set up in a couple of places. If you look at the police stations now, we have improved where we locate ourselves and where our armoury will be in that particular police station. 

We have been able to divide the issue of detention as it affects children, women and people with disabilities and so forth. Then, we have been able to put in communication equipment. There’s been a lot of improvement, technically, including surveillance cameras, conference wing (a convenient place for officers and men of the force to sit and hold meetings) within the police station. In our modern police stations, what we are using is no longer obsolete.

Regarding welfare and accommodation, we have done many things in terms of putting in new accommodation in place. New accommodation in the sense that we have what we call recreation centres, which are going to serve as accommodation for the police for them to sit down and relax with their families. It’s a place of abode, where we have en-suite rooms, kitchens and so forth, like a standby unit. These are new ones we have been able to construct in a lot of places. 

What do you have to say about a trending video, where commissioned officers complained about six months’ unpaid salaries?

That is not true. I just told you we had paid all officers and men of the police. We have paid everybody the six months’ arrears. We do not owe anybody.

Where are these modern police stations being reconfigured and rebuilt?

They are all over the country. We have them in many states. But we started with what we have in about seven or eight states. 

Recently, you stated that 25 police barracks in Lagos would be demolished and rebuilt within two years. How feasible is that given the issue of funding?

Yes, what really motivated this arrangement is that the Lagos State government earmarked those police barracks that you have mentioned as a risk, and a place not suitable to use for accommodation, because some of them are on the verge of collapse. In some, you have total decay of infrastructure and you may not even be able to refurbish. They have marked them as such. So, to avoid this risk of collapse, we decided to act. They actually wrote to the police three or four years ago, and they have again reemphasised it recently. I think we will be very insensitive not to act. More so, I think we should act quickly. 

Quickly in the sense that we have had several experiences of collapse of buildings in Lagos and elsewhere. Our barracks in Lagos that you mentioned, none is less than 40 or 50 years old. And because of the competing demands of the government, we will not be able to ask the government to do everything for us. In its own wisdom, the government also has approved what we call the PPP, Private-Public Partnership. So, the ones in Lagos, because of the government’s interest, they decided when they saw that we were not acting,  to construct fences to wall off the barracks because of their dilapidated state. 

They fenced them off from public view. So, when I came in, I explored this opportunity of PPP, and at the same time, government has also in its wisdom created IGRC to look at the business possibilities. But in terms of Lagos, I approached the governor and told him the problem, what do we do? Fortunately, they have a department that is into property development, and we went into partnership with the state government.

In most cases, we have our equity as the land. Fortunately, in many of the barracks, you can get more than the number of houses that you currently have if you are able to manage it very well in terms of design, comfort and other things. Where you have a bungalow, you may be able to put a storey building. So, we have entered into an agreement with the government, and it is supporting us and is ready to waive all building charges and so forth. To approve the partnership for one of the barracks, the Lagos State government waived about N98 million, which we were supposed to pay.  

So, the government will provide those who will do the construction, and in that way, we also have the assurance that those genuinely who have been allocated accommodation in those barracks would be relocated and in the event they cannot be relocated, they would be given money to be able to rent an apartment outside pending the completion of the police homes and to return when the construction is complete. When it is reconstructed, we believe it will be an enormous improvement because the plan encompasses all necessary facilities, including drainage, light, places of worship, small markets, etc. 

You have preached against police brutality, and actions have been seen to have been taken in a few cases. How much do you think still needs to be done, as it seems the steps taken against police indiscipline are not working? 

Well, I believe in law and punishment. It’s a continuous process in any organisation. Discipline is the bedrock of the Nigerian Police Force – and in our training, either as a cadet or as a recruit, it is being inculcated into it. Discipline, the ability to comport yourself, the ability to be civil, the ability to be friendly, and the ability to manage a crisis are some of the key aspects of our training. For anyone to behave unprofessionally, that means he needs to be sanctioned. Sanctions are enforced to show others that bad behaviour is not tolerated and that it will attract punishment. 

Any type of punishment is being meted out to serve as a deterrent. We have what we call the Orderly Room trial. It is a court process in which a senior officer will adjudicate to look into a case of unprofessionalism, with witnesses called in. Upon being found guilty, punishment is meted out. We have punishments in various categories. Dismissal is the last, depending on the gravity of the offence. There are instances in which dismissal is followed by prosecution. 

Civil society groups often accused the police of extrajudicial killings. What are you doing to reduce it to the barest minimum?

I think the method and ways are simple. One is proficiency in handling firearms. That is why we train and retrain our officers on the use of firearms. Two, is that every officer is carrying a firearm to go to work. We will always want him to remember that there are times or situations when to use the firearm. Every officer is taught this. For instance, you can use a firearm to defend yourself. Yet, that is not as simple as it sounds. There are extenuating factors that determine when to draw on your firearm. 

You can also use your firearm in arresting a person, who has committed a felonious offence. Most of the time, when an officer uses his firearm not in line with the calling of the force, he will be punished for that. And we have been doing that. I believe that there is no other organisation that is as hard on its personnel when it comes to sanctioning our personnel. We deal decisively with anyone who engages in corruption, extortion and unnecessary use of firearms, or apply excessive force in executing his duties. We believe we have to continue doing that. The police as an organisation is a very large force. 

The United Nations recommends one police officer for 450 citizens, but we know ours is a far cry from that recommendation. You sure need massive scaling up of personnel to achieve any meaningful impact of policing the country. How well are you responding to this?

You cannot get all that you need to do a particular assignment. We are aware of the ratio of police regarding the United Nations’ recommendation. We have not been able to reach that. But the issue is, the government is trying its best, because for some time, the issue of recruitment has stopped. And while the issue of recruitment is no longer going, the issue of retirement has never stopped, the same with the issue of death while in service, etc. These factors deplete our numbers no doubt.

It is not something that you can control. Therefore, we had gaps in terms of bringing in more personnel. About three years ago, the president approved the recruitment of 10,000 policemen yearly. We have been able to do that for two years. We are in the third year, but we have not been able to complete it. In terms of building manpower, the Nigerian Police Academy is now fully on course, and it is graduating about 600 middle-level officers every year. 

We also have the inspectorate  cadets. There are efforts to increase the strength of the police. But it is not something that you can achieve overnight. You have to plan for it, and you have to have the logistics to undertake such a project. That will require a lot of funds –billions of naira. We have been able to improve our manpower by 20,000. In both cases, we spent N11 billion on those exercises. 

How much have you improved on the morale of the rank and file of the police?

I may not be the best judge on that, but there is a difference between what it was before I assumed office. The issue of salary increment, accommodation (in Kano, we have been able to do this),  we have been able to accommodate 100 officers in a new, beautiful barracks with all facilities. In some places, where we are building, people are happy to be in such environments. In operations, we used to move our mobile and tactical units to go and reinforce a particular state or command, we pay their allowances, and we take care of them. Promotion is also another motivation. There is no police officer who has not enjoyed one promotion or the other in the last two years if he’s actually qualified. Promotion is a privilege. It is not a right. But we try to do it so that it serves as a motivation. 

When Nigerian police officers travel out for operations, they excel and receive commendations for their discipline and professionalism. But back home, we don’t see the same disposition. Why?

It’s a very simple analogy. You see, the human being himself is one thing. The environment under which he operates is another thing. The tools to work are another thing. Tools that are available to do the work he is supposed to do is another thing. Then, the number of appreciation that comes from those you are serving is another thing. The willingness of those you are serving to support you is another thing. Most foreign missions our officers have participated in are geared towards entrenching peace. 

These are people who have gone into war, and they had seen a lack of peace, and they want to be supported in bringing home peace. So, you have a lot of support from those around you that you are serving. Two, the United Nations, which is spearheading this kind of operation, tries to provide all the necessary logistics that you need to work with, in terms of welfare, allowances etc.

People are paid in dollars. Officers who had opportunities to participate in these operations have built houses, married wives, bought cars and so forth. So, there are motivating factors. The level of supervision is also there. The level of reward and punishment is also there. There are a whole lot of things involved. 

The security of police officers in itself is very important. Some officers complain that their lives don’t matter much compared to that of civilians. What do you do for families of officers who die in active duty?  

The police job is as risky as any other job that a citizen can venture into. To my mind, it is even more dangerous than a military job. You see, the type of society that we are, the police, will always behave in tandem with society. That is one. Two, crime and criminality have made the police an endangered species, because it is prevalent. There are fewer punishments, and the process of even awarding the punishment is even more cumbersome. On technical issues, you see, not only the police, criminals have their way out. 

The punishments are not commensurate with the crime that can serve as a deterrent. You see somebody assaulting a policeman and he is charged to court and he is fined N100 or N200. So a lot of factors need to change. The behaviour of the police, or the level of acceptance, or the level of deficit in the good relationship between the police and the public is also another thing. But I believe there are a lot of issues. And of course you know if you are a strict disciplinarian in your house, you will not be well liked. 

So, the relationship with the police in a society, where crime and criminality are prevalent because of many other factors, you don’t expect it to be very cordial. The process of recruitment, the process of training, where you are living, which you have spoken about, what kind of person you are, how does the government even come out to protect you? So, there are a lot of issues. 

I came in to meet deceased police officers’ families that have not been paid for five or six years. We had to appeal to the government to release funds for us to pay those relations; funds to pay families of those who died in active service, in the line of duty or of natural causes. Then, we have pensions. We also have burial allowances given to the deceased’s families. For instance, if we lose an officer, there is an immediate entitlement given to the relatives for the burial. 

Many police officers have been agitating to exit the pension scheme on the grounds that it is not well suited for the police. Many organisations have been able to exit, but the police have not been able to do so. The government believes that it can be improved. We are looking into how the scheme can be improved. 

Any update on the killing of the police officers in Taraba or did they die in vain in the line of duty? 

It’s a very difficult question to answer because it will expose some of our inadequacies in terms of relationships between the military and the police. We have issues on both sides. There are instances the police are responsible for killing soldiers. There are instances when the military is also responsible for killing policemen. At the top, no problem. But I think the two organisations – the police and the military – need to make a lot of efforts to see that the two services can work in harmony, especially now that we have a lot of joint operations. 

In those days, when we came in, we had limitations. The police would go to an operation, and if it was beyond them, they would hand over that situation to the military and when the situation is brought to normal, the military hands it back to the police. But we see more joint operations now. It is something that we are looking at, at the highest level and trying to improve the situation. The issue of breaking into internal security is something in my position, I cannot comment on. 

On the Taraba issue, as far as government is concerned, it has been resolved. It is left for the media to find out how it was resolved. But there are instances where we have charged the civilians that are involved in the matter to court. That process is still going on. There are instances where the court asked the military to produce their men involved in court, they have not produced them. It is something we are still looking at, at the highest level to try to improve the situation

The Police Service Commission and the police hierarchy have not always worked in sync. But lately, there have been some efforts towards bridging that gap. What is it like now?

It is not true that we have never worked in harmony. We have worked in harmony, and for a very long time, nobody has heard the Police Service Commission or the police complain. Recently, or in the last two years, the last management, my predecessor’s time, the Police Service Commission, had issues of misunderstanding on recruitment. The police had been doing the recruitment together with the Police Service Commission, but there came a time when the Police Service Commission said they were the ones to do the recruitment. My predecessor did not think so because recruitment and appointment are two different things. Police refer to the officers’ cadre. You recruit people from a lower cadre of the police, and therefore there was some misunderstanding to the extent that this went to court. 

The police went to court, and they had the judgment that the IG should do recruitment just like any other organisation does. The Police Service Commission went on appeal, and they were also given judgment in favour that recruitment and employment are synonymous. When I came in, the real issue I realised is that whether it is recruitment or employment, it can be done together. Everybody can have a role to play. For instance, it is not only the Police Service Commission. The Federal Character Commission is there, because when Mr President is approving the recruitment of up to 10,000 policemen, you hear the recruitment must be based on Federal Character and therefore, we must take applicants from 774 local governments. 

The Police Service Commission is a body that is empowered in part to employ all officers except the IG. Therefore, they have a role to play. But the police know who they want to employ in terms of fitness. They do a lot of things. That was synergy – everybody brings his own contribution to the process. That was the situation before that altercation. So, when I came in, I said, ‘Why don’t we go back to the drawing board and do as we have been doing?’ Everybody has a role to play. So, let’s play this role in synergy. That was what we did and we did the recruitment. For now, we are looking at not only how we can solve the issue of recruitment but our differences completely. 

The issue of your tenure elongation was on the front burner a few weeks ago. The PSC does not look like endorsing another tenure for you. What is the situation now?

I turned 60 on the 1st of   March and had put in 35 years by the 15th of March, 2023. But the appointment letter that was given to me after confirmation of my appointment is for me to serve for four years. The appointment letter quotes some sections of the new Police Act, which says the person appointed as IG will now spend four years. As far as I am concerned, I have put in two years, and I still have two more years.

But this depends on the government, and also depends on how the cases in court play out eventually. I think we should let the court interpret things and for the government to look at the wisdom in that. The law is not a dogma. The law cannot cover everything. There are loopholes. I remain grateful to serve Nigerians. That is very important.

The 2023 elections have come and gone, but the aftereffects still remain. The police were heavily criticised for what some of your men did during the polls, particularly the governorship polls. And there is the case in Rivers seen in viral videos where police were moving ballot boxes. How much punishment do you mete out to such officers, who flagrantly misrepresent the role of the police? How could a police officer, for whatever reason or inducement, be aiding and abetting the rigging of an election? 

I don’t think the police have been heavily criticised. There are criticisms coming from some quarters. As far as the 2023 general election is concerned, we have been commended. If not for anything, one, the issue of violence, two, we were able to checkmate our officers. Certainly, there are some infractions for which appropriate disciplinary measures must have been taken. In the case of Rivers, which you said, we have been able to identify the officers involved. For instance, Adamawa, where the commissioner took part in a declaration, is still under investigation. The commissioner has been recalled to the headquarters, and the investigation is ongoing. Generally, as far as the 2023 general election is concerned, we have improved on what we have been doing. But there is still room for improvement. 

Now, let’s go to the issue of EndSARS. What have the Police learnt?

EndSARS itself was started on falsehood. Go back and investigate very well. EndSARS started in Delta, particularly in Ughelli, where the police action was misinterpreted. But before that, I think society had been charged, many didn’t like the activities of the tactical unit, which is called SARS – Special Anti-Robbery Squad. It was just an opportunity for people to revolt against them. EndSARS shifted the goalpost from dealing with the police situation to the government. I think we have learnt our lesson by observing that we have an acceptance deficit because of our activities, but we are taking measures, introducing a lot of community policing. Other grievances that are beyond the police, the government has also taken steps. 

What will you want to be remembered for as the IG?

My target is to improve general policing: the aspect of tactical, technological, discipline and professional force to provide policing to the Nigerian public. That is why we are looking at all aspects of improving our output. We are looking at welfare, discipline, professionalism, training, re-training, recruitment, etc. In fact, these days, it is not the number of personnel that really matters, it is the number of technologies that you employ or apply. 

Something like a patrol can even be done remotely. We believe in improving our capacity, using cutting-edge scientific tools to enhance policing so that the interaction between the police and the public can be reduced. Before now, we had roadblocks as a crime-preventing measure; it brought a lot of altercations between the police and the public. We had stop-and-search as the crime-preventing measure. 

We had raids as a crime-prevention measure. So, these are things that directly put the police in the path of the public. But these are things that can now be done in a better way without raiding and mounting roadblocks. I want to leave behind a transformed police force with technology at the heart of its operation. It is a work in progress. 

Lastly, why have the police not embraced body cameras?

There are other things that we have not done. We are coming gradually. We will come to that. There are so many things we are going to do to change how we police our country.

QUOTES 

 1. It’s a very simple analogy. You see, the human being himself is one thing. The environment under which he operates is another thing. The tools to work are another thing. Tools that are available to do the work he is supposed to do is another thing. Then, the number of appreciation that comes from those you are serving is another thing. The willingness of those you are serving to support you is another thing

2. You can also use your firearm in arresting a person who has committed a felonious offence. Most of the time, when an officer uses his firearm not in line with the calling of the force, he will be punished for that. And we have been doing that. I believe that there is no other organisation that is as hard on its personnel when it comes to sanctioning our personnel

3. There are efforts to increase the strength of the police. But it is not something that you can achieve overnight. You have to plan for it, and you have to have the logistics to undertake such a project. That will require a lot of funds – billions of naira. We have been able to improve our manpower by 20,000. In both cases, we spent N11 billion on those exercises 

4. I turned 60 on the 1st of   March and had put in 35 years by the 15th of March, 2023. But the appointment letter that was given to me after confirmation of my appointment is for me to serve for four years. The appointment letter quotes some sections of the new Police Act, which says the person appointed as IG will now spend four years. As far as I am concerned, I have put in two years, and I still have two more years