Police commissioners should leave their offices to supervise their men — Tsav

 A retired Commissioner of Police, Alhaji Abubakar Tsav, in this interview with ADELANI ADEPEGBA explains what government should do to empower the police and other law enforcement agencies to address the security challenges in the country

How vital is adequate remuneration to the rank and file of the nation’s security agencies?

In other countries of the world, security agents are well paid for their services so as to discourage them from taking bribes and also to sustain their loyalty. Here in Nigeria, the salary and allowances are inadequate. If government is serious about improving security in the country, it must make provision for adequate allowances for our security personnel. Not only that, many police officers are retired, some were dismissed and many have died, but they have not been replaced. Even though President Buhari directed that 10,000 persons should be recruited into the police, this has not been fully complied with because the candidates are to start their training on December 31,2016. So, the number of policemen has depleted and this is not good for the security of the country.

Do you think making the agencies more public-friendly is also important?

Yes, that would also help. This would enhance public confidence and make it easy for security agencies to get information from the public, but now, the police are not helping matters. When you give information to the police about a criminal, they would tip off the suspect or they may ask you for money. The government needs to do something in this regard. This would improve efficiency in the police.

Many have suggested community policing as a way of dealing with crimes in the country. What is your view?

Community policing may work in a way, but in Nigeria, we have not developed to that level. If a crime is committed in a community, the people may not give information to the police. Consider the case of former Delta state governor, James Ibori who was convicted for stealing and sent to jail and when he was released, some people were celebrating with him. So, we have not developed to that level. Community policing would only protect criminals.

For now, we have not yet developed to such level. In the future, we may have state police. Our politicians are too ambitious and too powerful and they are looking for more power and if you establish state police, you would be creating a lot of problems. If Wike (Rivers State governor) or Fayose (Ekiti governor) has state police, do you think they won’t go against the federal authorities?

Allow the police and other security agents to do the job of security, pay them well and you would see a difference in how they do their job. But when you under-pay them, they won’t give their best. You would see that policemen who are attached to politicians are loyal to them than to the Inspector-General of Police or the Commissioner of Police. All is part of corruption.

Do you think the politicians deserve to have police orderlies?

The police should not be using regular policemen as orderlies to politicians because they corrupt them and make them inefficient. I suggest that retired police officers should be encouraged to train supernumerary constables who could be attached to politicians.

The National Assembly is planning to make police commissioners answerable to state governors and not the Federal Government. Can this help in fighting crime?

That would be a serious mistake because some state governors are too ambitious. They will use the state commissioner of police to protect their own thugs and to hunt their opponents. They would use the police to hunt anyone who is against them. If a criminal loyal to the governor is arrested, he would simply tell the police, “release him, I would look into the matter,” and that would be the end of the matter. It would be a grievous mistake to place the CP under the governor; it’s as good as saying the states should have their own police.

Why is kidnapping a hard nut to crack for the police and other security agencies?

It’s because policemen are involved in kidnapping and some of them are informants to the kidnappers. The kidnappers pay them, that is why it is difficult to stop it. Some policemen are disloyal, they want to make money by all means. I have been saying it but nobody is listening: the state commissioners of police should leave their office and go and supervise their men. They should also be loyal to the IG, that is the only way to improve security in the country.

How do we ensure their loyalty to the system since it can’t be enforced?

You use carrot and stick — anybody who is not loyal to you, give him a query and if you establish his offence, reduce his rank or dismiss him. This was what we were doing (while in service) and there was absolute loyalty during our time. You either do the job or you don’t do it and you are sacked.

The global trend in security matters has shifted from investigation to prevention of crimes. How can Nigeria adopt this approach?

Let the government recruit the right persons into the police service, not drunkards or individuals obsessed with money. During our time, we didn’t do all these things, we did the job to the best of our ability and that is why we can afford to talk now. I expect the government to look for retired police officers who are sound, send them to police colleges as lecturers. Now, no policeman wants to serve in the police college because he may not make money, and while there, he would be teaching the recruits wrong things. He would be there complaining and the recruits would graduate from the college with this wrong orientation. The government needs to get retired police officers who are willing to teach the recruits discipline.

What about equipping of the police to detect and foil crimes?

The Shagari government acquired a lot of equipment for the police and the force started improving, but when the military took over, they confiscated everything and the police were back to square one. The military then saw the police as a threat and so they impounded all the equipment bought for the police. Before the coup, the police were earning more than the military and were performing better, because we had power, but now, it has been degraded. Now, many people are joining the force because they do not have a job, they are merely looking for a means of livelihood.

Are you canvassing for a return to the pre-military rule era for the police?

Yes, they should give the police a lot of power and there should also be discipline. That is the only thing that could make the police perform very well.

Some have argued that national honours should be reserved also for junior police officers who do their job diligently. What effects do you think this will have on the performance of police officers and security in the country?

In the past, we had commissioner’s commendation and IG commendation for policemen who distinguished themselves in the performance of their job. If a policeman excels, he should be honoured. What happens now is that once you are the IG, whether you know your job or not, they must give you national honour and they would select some AIGs and also give them honours. A policeman who distinguished himself on police duty should also be honoured to encourage others to emulate him and do their job well.

In terms of using forensic technology to unravel crimes, why have successive governments failed to invest in this to tackle the country’s security challenges despite its benefits?

Some past governments refused to equip the police because they felt the force was not fair to them during the campaigns or elections. They believed the police took sides. So the first thing they do is to retire some senior officers and this often impacts the moral and efficiency of the police.

What is the best way to effectively deal with Fulani herdsmen attacks?

The government must ensure justice otherwise there would always be Fulani herdsmen attacks, if their cattle are stolen and they do not get redress.

Land is scarce because the population is increasing and nobody wants his land to be used for grazing. Ranching is the best thing to prevent clashes between herdsmen and farmers. Allowing the herdsmen to stay in the bush or graze their cattle on other peoples farms is not good. The government should also reach out to the Fulani herdsmen association, Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association and devise ways and means of ending the attacks.