16th December, 2010
Since he was appointed the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Hafiz Ringim has been taking measures to improve the image of the force. His utterances and actions, we have observed, are geared towards repositioning the outfit as an effective crime fighting force with a human face.
In his latest attempt to sanitise the law enforcement arm of the government, Ringim last week redeployed all police commissioners from their present positions. The move, we were told, was informed by the need to ensure a free and fair election next year by preventing the police commissioners from influencing the outcome of the elections based on their familiarity with politicians in the states.
Perhaps to support the IGP in his moves to to instil discipline in the police, the Ministry of Police Affairs recently ordered an audit of police salary and personnel in the country and the result was what some of us have long suspected.
Announcing the result of the audit on Tuesday, Ringim revealed the massive fraud perpetrated by police pay officers and accountants in all the states of the federation, including the Federal Capital Territory.
The IGP also revealed that some pay officers with the Abia State Police Command have been arrested and are being quizzed over their roles in the financial scam. He said the audit uncovered thousands of ghost workers in the police and billions of naira stolen by police pay officers and accountants.
The audit which commenced in September, it was learnt, also uncovered bank accounts through which monies were being stolen by pay officers and their collaborators.
According to Ringim, over six billion naira have been recovered so far.
The examination revealed that the actual staff strength of the police was not up to the 377,000 official figure.
“The audit also established the fact that bank officials connive with police pay officers to steal money…Pay officers often delay payment of salaries unnecessarily while complaints of variated salaries and allowances by officers in some state commands are rife,†he added.
The police boss also revealed how N15 million was paid into some accounts monthly while cheques were cashed in flagrant violation of government regulations.
In all sincerity we have always suspected that this kind of racket was going on in the police. It is on account of the massive corruption in the police that the Transparency International, TI, the global anti-corruption watchdog identified the police as the most corrupt government agency in the country followed by the Power Holding Company of Nigeria, PHCN.
Corruption in the police needs no special investigation to uncover. A casual observer wishing to confirm this only needs to move onto the roads to see the brazen manner policemen extort money from motorists all in the guise of stop and search.
Our main concern now is what Ringim intends to do to correct these anomalies. Our advice to the IGP is not to treat this matter with a kid’s glove because the problems facing the police are more fundamental. There is need for a fundamental restructuring and orientation of the police.
We are in an age of enlightenment and law enforcement officers must not only be well educated, they must also be enlightened to carry out their duties. The lower cadre of the police must be staffed with well educated personnel with degrees and higher diplomas. This will apart from helping to reduce unemployment among graduates in the country also reflect in the quality performance of the personnel.
It is time we do away with mediocres and illiterates who can barely read in the police. What we need are enlightened minds, well trained in the art of policing to maintain law and order.
IGP Ringim should focus on retraining and reorientation of his men to achieve the desired result.
Ringim should also bring all the police personnel indicted by the audit report to book to serve as a deterrent to others.