Police, violence and 2007 elections
INSPITE OF of all its pitfalls, Nigeria has had eight years now of uninterrupted democracy and from all indications, all is now set for this year's general elections.
One truism about democracy in Nigeria, though is our inability to successfully transit from one democratically-elected government to another.
The 2007 elections is a litmus test for Africa's most populous nation to defy the pessimists and achieve this cycle.
To date, all the key players have been in an active mode. The politicians have aligned themselves into various parties where they believe their interests would be best served.
The political parties have also been executing their election plans based on INEC’s guidelines.
They have concluded their congresses, where their flag bearers' runners were selected for the various elective offices.
The electorate, on the other hand, are co-operating with the INEC by registering and revalidating their voter cards, in spite of pockets of violence in some parts of the country. Curbing violence, protecting the life and property of all citizens is a consti utional responsibility of the Nigeria Police.
'The Police is your Friend'', is a refrain found pasted in the hallways of most police stations around the country. However, this promise has not always translated into performance.
Thus, the Nigeria police force has come to mean different things to different people. To some, it is both a friend and a guardian angle that protected them from the hands of the wicked ones, to some others; it is the agent that helped them achieve their desired goals, while others will forever view the police as that agent that deprived them of their joy, their bread winner.
Given this love-hate relationship between the police and many Nigerians, it therefore becomes essential to tutor the police on its roles in a democracy and the election process.
Prof. Pat Utomi, a presidential hopeful, told members of the Crime Reporters Association of Nigeria in their 2006 lecture and award ceremony that, the police need proper training and it should be a priority to the authority.
He added: ``Proper funding of training and continuing education for members of the police should be priority for any one who seeks to change the social order for the good of all''.
As far as the 2007 elections are concerned, having a well informed police could serve and protect the integrity, the provisions of the enabling electoral act, especially the testy portions in section 24 (9c) which makes buying and selling voter's card an offence and section 98 (1) that outlaws the use of force or violence during political campaign.
Speaking at a recent workshop in Abuja on ``domestications of United Nations Convention Against Torture, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment'', organised by the Legal Research Initiative, Inspector-General of police, Mr. Sunday Ehindero said, there would be seminars and workshop for its officers and men to ensure a violence-free general elections in 2007.
”As the date for the general elections draws closer, we are intensifying preparation towards ensuring that we have a violent-free election. To achieve this, we will soon begin to organise workshops and seminars for our officers on how to prevent breakdown of law and order'', he said.
The Lagos state Police Command appears to have taken the vanguard in organising such workshops for its officers and men on the Electoral Act 2006.
'' Now that everything is in place for the election to hold in 2007, the police have a lot to do with the electoral act.. We are speaking to them on the Act and electoral offences'', says Charles
Lisham, the country director of International Foundation for Eectoral System (Ifes-Nigeria) an NGO, who was a guest lecturer at the one-day workshop on the electoral act for the officers and men of the Lagos state Police command.
``In every democracy, election plays an important role, therefore election process must be protected by those who understand the programme. We are here to make the police more familiar with electoral act'', Lisham added
Mr. Emmanuel Adebayo, the Lagos state commissioner of Police, in his opening remarks at the workshop noted that, the command is the first to organise such training for it officers and men in the country.
He stressed the need to train the police on the Electoral Act 2006, as they are the major stakeholders in providing security during and after election.
``We have much to benefit from this kind of lecture. The INEC have their roles to play to ensure a credible election, the electorate have their roles. We must protect the ballot box, the voting centres'', he stressed.
Adebayo promised that Divisional Police Officers (DPOs) in charge of the divisions would be trained as trainers of other officers who where not at the workshop so that every policeman in Lagos would be well informed of the Electoral Act.
It must not be business as usual, if we are to succeed as a nation democratically and otherwise. People and organisations must know what is expected of them at this point in time.
During the 2007 general elections, the police should provide security for the electorate, INEC officials, all political parties, polling centres, ballot boxes, and above all protect the electioneering process, so as to ensure that, we transit successfully from one democratic government to another. This is more so when In the past some police officers had been indicted for joining with some politicians to subvert the electorate due to ignorance or greed, such had happened in Anambra state.
Other police state commands in the federation should emulate the Lagos stage Police Command and organise such workshops for their officers and men, so that we will have a well informed and people-oriented police force that is truly committed to the dictum of serving and protecting their integrity''.
The police authority, on the other hand, must ensure that, the duty allowance released for the officers during the election gets to them in good time.
``If the officers are well taking care of by the authority, politicians would find it difficult to manipula te them'', a social commentator said.
If the police joined INEC, the electorate, governments in a compact to make the 2007elections a success, it will surely be successful. However, if all these key players fail to meet their commitments diligently and responsibly, the outcome will undoubtedly be unsavoury.