Police must be proactive through intelligence gathering – Kabiru Adamu

In this interview, the Managing Director of Beacon Security and Intelligence Limited, Abuja-based security analyst, Kabiru Adamu, harped on the need to restore confidence in the justice system.

W****hy is mob violence against suspects becoming common in Nigeria?

The mob action happens because the society or the community in question does not trust the law enforcement process. Where, for instance, in the past there have been instances where the law enforcement process did not meet their expectations. And sometimes this could be because of perceptions or in reality it did not meet their expectations.

And they take the law into their hands. Other times it’s because they feel that the individual in question deserves immediate sort of judgement and they feel that the process of judicial adjudication takes time.

So you see them sort of taking the law into their hands. I think in summary these are the reasons. We can also talk about the capacity of our security agencies to arrest, to gather evidence, as well as to present or to prosecute the suspect.

Where this capacity is weak or low, then you see individuals or communities taking the law into their hands.

** Should there be stronger sanctions against individuals who engage or participate in these actions, regardless of allegations against the victim? **

Yes, and I think it’s important for the government to, first of all strengthen the process of law enforcement.

In other words, individuals who commit crimes, individuals who for one reason or the other have taken part in criminal activities; they must be punished. Because mob action is a crime. It’s you taking the law into your hands, over and against what the law of the country allows you to do.

So, that person should be treated as someone who has committed offences against the state. But for that to happen, it means our law enforcement agencies will have to have the capacity to carry out such actions. And I think that’s what’s more important.

They have the capacity of the law enforcement agencies to arrest and to prosecute. Where that capacity is not enhanced, then it will be almost impossible for them to punish offenders who commit this type of crime. In the case of this woman, I think there is enough information to indicate what happened.

The perpetrators must be identified. If it includes the police, like what we’re hearing, that police officer must be subjected to the process of internal discipline that the police have. So as an example, if he’s supposed to be presented before a disciplinary committee that would investigate and punish him, that needs to be done too.

**What lessons should serving police officers, especially the DPOs, learn from this incident? **

The most important lesson is intelligence gathering. Know when occurrences are happening and prevent them from escalating. For instance, if you know and you’re able to prevent it before it escalates, then it will reduce the possibility of mob action.

Mob action will happen when people gather. But if, for instance, you have enough intelligence and you’re able to identify the indicators. Because, you know before this type of thing happens, there will be enough information suggesting, for instance, that people are getting angry.

There is information that there is an abduction taking place and children are being abducted. Those are the kind of things that will lead to mob action. So if there is enough intelligence and the intelligence is being used proactively, it will reduce the possibility of people taking laws into their own hands. Because I think what happened; the DPO may have been overwhelmed.

But if he has good intelligence, he will be able to know when this thing will happen. And before he becomes overwhelmed, he can take the necessary action and prevent this type of mob action. Unfortunately, if he allows it to reach a stage where the process has started, then it will be almost impossible for him to prevent it.

Because they are probably going to attack him or even burn down his division. And he doesn’t have enough numbers to stop that from happening. So the best thing is to prevent it by using intelligence.

Do Nigeria’s laws need reform to address police misconduct?

I don’t think there is a need to make any reforms. It is an offence for anyone. There are already laws within our statutes that deal with such offences.

So it’s just to make sure that the law enforcement agents are trained to implement the provisions of the law. And that means training, that means equipping them, that means holding them accountable. Like in this instance, they must be held accountable.

If you do these three things, it would reduce future occurrences. Through investigation, but I don’t think it should be the police alone that should conduct those investigations. I think the parliament should also set up parliamentary committees that will investigate such developments.

And then of course punish and penalise offenders. The credibility of the police has already been affected. So there is no investigation they would do now that Nigerians will trust the outcome. I believe that it has to be done by independent bodies. And like I’ve suggested, it can be done by a committee of the parliament.

And once the committee’s report is out, it must be published for Nigerians to see that there was no attempt to cover up anything.