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No Nigerian is surprised or feels offended when the issues of corruption or extra judicial killings are linked with the Nigeria Police. In fact, the surprise is for any denial of these atrocities to be made, and this often happens when senior police officers say the police is not corrupt nor involved in extra judicial killings.

It was therefore like a fresh air in a polluted atmosphere when the chairman of the Police Service Commission, Parry Osayande on a visit to police formations in Ibadan, Oyo State, and Abeokuta, Ogun State, came out to acknowledge that the force is guilty of many malfeasances it has been accused of.

Mr. Osayande in what could be termed a true confession admitted that the image of the police has been battered through the unwholesome activities of some of its men in uniform. He regretted that the uniform and the profession have generally lost respect and glamour.

In a rather candid and truthful manner, he said, “There are extra judicial killings in the Nigeria police. We are involved and engaged in extra judicial killings, even rape, and other forms of corruption. We use our power unlawfully. We are brutal. We are involved in torture and intimidation of members of the public. We are involved in illegal road block activities.”

If we dissect these words one by one, we are going to have a lot to agree with Mr. Osayande. On extra judicial killings alone, the incident that readily comes to mind is the mindless killing of the leader of the Boko Haram insurrections.

Mohammed Yusuf was captured alive by soldiers who were called in when the police couldn’t overpower his men. He was then handed over to the police only for them to claim that he was killed in a shootout. The circumstances surrounding his killing still remain a mystery as the panel set up to probe it has not made public its findings.
Mr. Yusuf’s case is of public knowledge just because of the high profile nature of it.

There are thousands of other innocent citizens who have been killed in police cells across the country.
The other issues raised by Mr. Osayande in his treatise concerns morale and how the police is viewed by the society.

In calling the attention of the police authorities to these he said, “Everyday people are laughing at us. How would your children feel if other children are discussing the corrupt activities of their parents? We are now talking to ourselves, in order to change. Before we can change, we have to know what is wrong with us.”

In truth, we all know what is wrong with the police, at least in a way. The argument has always revolved around the issue of poor remuneration and conditions of service. However, in recent years there have been attempts and efforts by government to tackle this by increasing their pay.
But this has not in any way helped to resolve the endemic corruption that has permeated the service of the police force. It is not a hidden fact that children of police men are taunted by their colleagues in school because they see what their parents do at road blocks.

Mr. Osayande’s words are biting but true. But the task of reforming the police is that of all and not for him or the chief of police alone. It is a collective task. This has, however, been made less tasking since Mr. Osayande and the top echelons of the police have not claimed any ignorance.

There is an urgent need to take a critical look at the curriculum of what they teach new recruits in the Police College and other training schools. It should also interest the authorities to find out why the police that we deride at home go abroad and get good commendation for the country. Is it that we send our best products abroad and leave the dregs to police our society?

Finally, it is important for us to re-orientate the members of the police and for them to live up to the saying that the police is your friend. It is the duty of Mr. Osayande and his team to fashion out a way to make the institution more respectable.