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The Nigeria Police and Security: With Special Reference to Armed Robbery

Document Cited in Related
AuthorT. O. Oruene
DOI10.1177/0032258X8505800407
Published date01 October 1985
Date01 October 1985
MISS T. O.
ORUENE
Institute
of
Human Relations. London.
THE
NIGERIA
POLICE
AND
SECURITY: WITH SPECIAL
REFERENCE TO
ARMED
ROBBERY
Introduction
It is theduty of the State to protect its citizens. Such protection
covers the preservation of the lives andproperty of the peopleagainst
every possible threat. The dutyof such protection, whichis a form of
security,is vested inthe Nigeria Police Force. Therefore, the
institution of the NigeriaPolice Force constitutes the firstline of
defence against any threats to the internal security of theState of
Nigeria andher community.
In this essay,an analysiswill be madeof the function of theNigeria
Police Force
and
the modeof operation; Iwill then attempt to find
from the paucity of information atmy disposal, whether the police
sufficiently and efficiently performs its securityduties,that is, offer
adequate protection for the citizens of Nigeria when the community
is threatened by a specific group, namely, armed robbers.
Organization and Command
The Nigeria Police Force in its present formwas constituted in 1914,
as a resultof theamalgamation of theNorthern and Southern
Nigeria.
It
is a Federal Force andwas established by s.105 of the
Nigeria Republican Constitution.
The administration and operational control of the Force are
directed frompolice headquarters in Lagos.TheInspector General,
who is headofthe policeorganization, is established by the
Constitution (s. 195(1))
and
appointed by the President who may
also removehim should theneed arise. Making the post a political
one thus nullifies thevalueof vesting the command of the policein a
non-partisan Inspector-General, since he cannot afford to be too
independent of theFederal government in the exerciseof his
command, knowing
that that
might expose him to the sanction of
removal. I
Force Headquarters and its various unitsforma PoliceArea
Command.
For
efficient administration, it is being dividedinto six
departments, each ofwhich is under the control of anAssistant
Inspector-General, who is responsible to the Inspector-General for
the general direction, supervision and co-ordination of the workof
the Branchesof his Department at Force Headquarters.
308 October 1985

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