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11 Police Stud.: Int'l Rev. Police Dev. 161 (1988)
Policing and Perceptions of Police in Nigeria

handle is hein.journals/polic11 and id is 171 raw text is: Policing and Perceptions of Police in Nigeria Etannibi E.O. Alemika, University of Jos, Nigeria Abstract In spite of perennial public outrage against pervasive police repression, corruption and in- efficiency in Nigeria since colonialism, research into the historical, socio-political and economic foundations and features of policing in the country is still scant and perfunctory. The present paper discusses the contours of polic- ing in Nigeria. In addition, a tentative scale for the measurement of the public perceptions of the Nigerian police is constructed. The re- sponses to the items on the Perceptions of Police Scale are analysed. Generally, the re- sponses of the percipients reveal an unflatter- ing view of the nation's police. The basic con- clusion drawn is that the perennial problems of conduct, corruption and productivity (Sykes, 1985) in the Nigerian police derive from the perpetual crisis and breach of social democracy, rule of law and socio-economic justice in the country. Consequently, it is sug- gested that solutions to authoritarian, class- biased and inefficient policing in Nigeria lie in the creation and consolidation of political and economic structures that promote fundamental democratic rights and liberties, socio-economic justice, and legitimate succession to power. Introduction The history of the numerous and disparate police forces in Nigeria since colonialism re- veals a legacy of arbitrariness, ruthlessness, brutality, vandalism, incivility, low account- ability to the public and corruption. There has been tremendous continuity in the country's policing traditions and goals in spite of series of organisational reforms. Policing in both co- lonial and post-colonial Nigeria also exhibited pre-occupation with law and order mainten- ance, state security and defence of a few power- ful and wealthy individuals who control the country's political and economic system through force and violence. Thus, police work became organised around, and for the suppres- sion of, oppositions and individuals agitating for social democracy, socio-economic justice, liberties and an authentic development of pro- ductive forces and decent living conditions for all in the country. Consequently, public sup- port for, and attribution of legitimacy to, the Nigerian police are tenuous and problematic. The perceptions of the police which this legacy generates among several social groups in the society have enormous implications for police - citizen encounters, support for police work and the legitimacy of the legal order. As a Nigerian police officer counsels his colleague, if the public feel that policemen and women are poorly behaved and dishonest you can ex- pect very little assistance from them. Public co-operation depends largely on their attitude towards you (Obozuwa 1970 p.11). Percep- tions may not perfectly depict the object being represented. However, they are neither formed nor sustained in a vacuum. On the contrary, perceptions derive from, and are continuously influenced or moulded by, direct and indirect contacts and experiences of percipients with the object of perception (for instance the police). Socio-economic and political structures determine the latitude, contents, contexts and ramifications of the encounters between police and the citizens and the latter's perceptions of the processes and consequences involved. A broad web of interconnections therefore exists between perceptions of the police, support for police work and attribution of legitimacy to the law enforcement and criminal justice system in the society. Piliavin and Briar (1964), in their study of police-juvenile en- counters, found that where police officers are viewed negatively there tends to be hostility toward police work. In light of such interconnections and the re- cent and extant colonial history of the Nigerian

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