Anyone who has seen the glory that the Police Force enjoys in other Countries of the World, more especially in the West, will be surprised and scandalized by what the Police Force is in Nigeria. For average Nigerians, the word police is synonymous with corruption. They are known for their rampart roadblocks meant for bus and taxi drivers, Okada riders etc. They are regularly seen in their habitual “second collection”—bribe-taking from any passing drivers independent of the content of their vehicle or in their regular bullying of civilians, if not careless shooting of any driver who fails to stop.
Furthermore, they also have the reputation of arriving, at the height of their siren, at the crime scene when the bandits had all gone. For these reasons, they have been given many names and insulted by all who have had the opportunity to do so without awakening their wrath.
In this article, Channels Television explores the cause of all these dilapidated shameful situations of the Nigerian Police Force.
Nigeria Police Training: Expecting Something From Nothings
The capacity of the Nigerian Police Force is currently being overstretched by the insurgency in the North, abuses against ordinary citizens and undermining of the rule of law. According to a report of the Human Rights Watch, Nigerians don’t trust the police; citizens generally have a bad impression of police officers because of their perceived brutality and corruption.
You may have seen how dilapidated the police quarters are, possibly have heard how horrible the Nigerian Police cells can be. The reality is, right from the Academy, the Nigerian Police officer has known no better way to live.
In what can be described as a brazen show of the harsh reality, a Channels TV documentary on the life of trainees living in the Nigerian Police College, Ikeja. It has revealed the deplorable conditions faced by people who will later graduate to become policemen and women. It is a show on who Nigerians would rely on to serve and protect them.
Channels TV began the New Year with a focus on the rehabilitation of the foremost training college of the Nigeria Police with an x-ray on the life of students living in the college.
The video below depicts the sad state of the dormitories, the toilets and more. Students were seen urinating at the back of the building, where the drainage system had broken down completely. The toilets and bathrooms are in such terrible conditions, one wonders how they manage to use them.
Male Dormitory 10 is one of those built by Nigerian colonial masters in 1940. Today, its windows and doors are damaged, with no plans for any repairs. There is no electricity, and the occupants point out blood stains from bed bug bites.
The College once had an Olympic-size swimming pool, now a breeding ground for toads. It used to win medals for shooting all over West Africa, but there is no shooting range anymore.
Jonah Mavah, the Deputy Commandant of the College, said there had been no major development since its establishment except for a few renovations. The College itself was built for 700 students, but today, it accommodates 2,554.
As for the library, the Staff says they cannot remember the last time books were supplied to the library,, which is full of museum pieces and antiquities called books bought in the 1970s.
Continue the article in Channels Television
”The truth might be hard to say, painful to bear or even drastic for the truth sayer but still needed to be said”. ALISON.
