Coalition of CSOs Opposes Proposed Amendment to Nigeria Police Act

Sunday Ehigiator

A coalition of 30 Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) has expressed strong opposition to the proposed amendment to the Nigeria Police Act, which seeks to increase the years of service for police personnel from 35 to 40 years.

The groups argue that the amendment will not address the challenges facing the police force and may even exacerbate existing problems, thereby urging the National Assembly to reject the proposed amendment.

In a joint statement, the coalition, which includes the Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC), COMPPART Foundation for Justice and Peacebuilding, and Open Society on Justice Reform Project (OSJRP), among others, contend that the proposed amendment is unjustified and may lead to negative consequences.

The statement read in part: “This proposal, if accepted, will create special retirement service years or age for police officers different from the general norm in the civil/public service, including personnel of other security services, which is 35 years of service or 60 years of age.

“The justifications for the proposed increase appear not to be well articulated. From the long title of the Bill, the justifications given are; to improve the experience and expertise of the police workforce; to retain experienced personnel and reduce the cost of training and recruiting new officers; to improve the morale, performance, and job satisfaction in the workforce of the Nigerian Police Force; and to address the shortage of experienced police personnel.

“With the greatest respect to the sponsors of the Bill, none of these grounds can justify an increase in the service years of police personnel as proposed by the Bill. This view is premised because the recruitment age limit into the Nigeria Police Force is between ages 18 and 25 years.

“If police personnel are recruited at 18 years that personnel would retire at 53 years of age after 35 years of service. If recruited at 25 years, the personnel would retire at 60 years of age after 35 years.

“Surely, the period of 1-35 years is more than sufficient for the police personnel to have gained sufficient experience and expertise to effectively perform the duties of police personnel before retirement.

“In any event, improvement in expertise is not a function of age of service but that of regularity of training and retraining on the job.

“The extant Police Act already has a provision that makes training and retraining of police personnel mandatory. Therefore, to improve experience and expertise, police personnel should be given frequent training in and outside the country on best policing practices rather than increasing their service years.

“Retention of experienced personnel and reduction in the cost of training and recruiting new officers cannot also be a justifiable ground for increasing the service years of police personnel.

“Police personnel are usually recruited annually. At the point of entry, they are not of the same age. They do not retire at the same time. Therefore, there can be no question of depletion of experienced personnel in the NPF as there would always be experienced hands available to discharge police duties even as experienced hands retire. Similarly, the concern about the cost of training does not arise.

“From a cost/benefit perspective, no special cost is required to train new police personnel since the nature of police duties requires regular recruitment of new police personnel.

“Any gap in recruitment will harm the regenerative capability of the NPF to inject fresh young blood into the force, to cope with the stressful demands of the tasks of policing which cannot be addressed by retaining older police personnel through an increase in service years.

“The process of any legislative process, no less, the amendment of the Police Act, should be an open, transparent and inclusive process that ensures that politics and personal interests are not prioritised over public good and public security.

“There is nothing intrinsically wrong with the present service years of the NPF. The present recruitment age limit of 18-25 years and the retirement age of 35 years of service or 60 years of age are within the universal standard.

“The work of police personnel is too stressful to endure longer years of service than necessary. There are other arrangements by which experienced police officers could still be engaged after retirement.”

Instead of increasing the service years, the coalition recommended frequent recruitment of young persons, frequent training and retraining of police personnel, adequate provisions of healthcare and safety needs, diversification of job schedules, and improvement in emoluments and pensions.

They urged the National Assembly to reject the proposed amendment and instead focus on addressing the root causes of the challenges facing the police force.

They also stressed the need for an open, transparent, and inclusive process that prioritizes public good and public security over personal interests.