EFFECT OF THE LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY
ABSTRACT
There has been a rising concern on the security of the country. This project is focused on studying the effect of Law enforcement agency in the Surulere Nigerian police force. The study made use of both primary and secondary data. And the research instrument used was the questionnaire administered to a sample size of 100 respondents. From the test result of hypothesis one, the study discovered that inadequate training does significantly contribute to ineffective crime control by the law enforcement agencies in Nigeria and hypothesis two shows that the effort of the law enforcement agents in creating a safer Nigeria is greatly hampered by unavailability of modern crime gadgets.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the study
The relationship between police and citizens must be informed by the ethical and professional principles that allow for
the effectiveness of their function. One of the challenges to community police units is to maintain peace and. When
Law is violated, crime has been committed. This study seeks to focus on the Law Enforcement Agency (Nigeria
Police Force) in crime control and prevention. The law enforcement agency in the real sense of the term according to
Iwarimie-Jaja (1991:74), refers to criminal justice agency (federal, state or local) which perform the principal functions
of prevention, and the apprehension of alleged offenders. By enforcement of the law Nigeria Police Force reflect the
ideological interest and priority desired by the controllers of the state as observable in intractable competitions. Throughout the length and breadth of our nation Thompson (1986), posted that innocent citizens are gripped with the
fear of armed men, hoodlums, and vagabonds who perpetrate their evil with reckless abandon.
Our society has ever since been witnessing an unprecedented upsurge of criminal activities ranging from
conventional, victimless to white-collar crime, especially “pen-robbery” which is now almost institutionalized. Any
nation plagued with this magnitude of social problem which people sign as they pass by make comments like it’s too
bad, will no doubt look for solutions. It is on this basis that Nigeria Police Force has come to stay.
According to Ogunleye (1976:250, duties of the police are defined in section 4 of the Police Act as “the prevention
and detection of crime, the apprehension of offenders, the preservation of law and order, the regrettable, it is only the
latter that law easily punishes because of their vulnerability whereas the former is let go with impunity.
Up till now the public fails to acknowledge the fact that the role of the police in our society is the defence of the right
and property of the bourgeois, consequently, the police has been singled out as escape goat for all the ill of the
society. It is from the context of the corrupt society we all belong that allegation of inefficiency and corruption consequently levelled against the Nigeria Police be viewed.
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
In Nigeria today, the problem of Insecurity has risen to its highest level, corruption, crime, communal disturbances as
in the case of the recent Communal Killings of Farmers by the Fulani Herdsmen, religious intolerance and the likes in
Nigeria is a cause for serious concern. What nation loses as a result of violation of criminal law cannot be quantified.
Not only is the economy dragged to the base continually, the image of the nation will need a great quantity of
detergent to be laundered both home and abroad.
Therefore, the important questions are: How do we rid crime out of our society? Could it be controlled or prevented?
What are its remote causes? The police have made series of efforts aimed at controlling and preventing crime yet not
much has been achieved.
Many people have lost their lives, property, money and even intangible things such as reputation, joy, peace due to
crime they committed or those of others. Could the inability of the police to achieve a crime free society be attributed
to the socio-economic structure of our society, absence of sophisticated equipments to combat crime, poor
communication network, outright bribery/corrupt practices among the police? Hence, these questions put low the
integrity of the police and places one in a valley of indecision as to whether the Nigeria Police Force has the interest
of the nation at heart.
The problems of Surulere Nigerian police in exercising its duties are both logistical and moral. Over the years in
logistical terms, the force has maintained by the federal government has not had enough equipment. The quantity
and quality of weapons, arms and ammunition available in most mobile squadron units in the country are hardly
enough. There are some instances where the force cannot stand the counter firepower of armed bandits. In terms of
human resources and strength, the Surulere Nigerian police is yet to have the strength that can adequately contain
crime in country. Recruitment into the force has been epileptic. Losses of personnel through natural death, active
service, retirement and disciplinary action have not been adequate replacement over the years. With regard to the
standard laid by the United Nations ratio of one policeman to 400 citizens. Nigeria has not met the standard. The strength of the force, by the time the then Inspector General of Police Mr Musliu Smith assumed duty was under
120,000 (Nigeria Tribute 10th August, 2000). Okunola (1995) estimated the ratio of the police man to about 641
Nigerians. Which is not much improvement on ratio 1:980 as at 1979 (Danmadani, 1979). The reward and pay structure of the force is also not encouraging compared to what it takes for one to lay down his/her life, the security is not available. The benefits are not attractive as revealed by Mr. Iwendi Haz, police public relation officer. All these among others constitute the major problems of the study.
EFFECT OF THE LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY