Policing in Africa is yet to evolve from what it is, to what obtains in other developed countries of the world as our policing system is still a defective one.
Here in Nigeria, our police have failed to be the friend of the masses as their maxim reads, rather they’ve been a source of concern and unexplainable fear to everyone.
They’ve been found culpable of several acts of impunity despite the fact that they are saddled with the responsibility of prioritising security of lives and Property.
In Nigeria, policemen have been arrested for robbery, rape, stealing, forceful arrest, human right abuse among other shameful acts. Lots of high profile killings have remained unresolved in the country and it has remained under investigation for years, all thanks to Nigeria Police.
In South Africa, their Police have been at the forefront of xenophobic attacks on fellow Africans as they’ve been captured in pictures aiding the looting of businesses owned by non-south Africans especially Nigerians. Their level of “madness” reached an unprecedented level on October 18, 2017, as they embarked on a protest against Nigerians in South Africa accusing them of intimidation and false accusation. Since the day of the protest till now, the government of the two nations (Nigeria and South Africa) has kept mute on the protest among other ignoble acts of the South African police.
As if these are not enough, the Kenya Police have turned themselves to “Kenyatta Police” as they’ve engaged themselves in all forms of human right abuse and extrajudicial executions. It is worth mentioning that in the course of the annulled August 8, 2017, elections in Kenya, more than forty individuals were killed by the Kenyan Police.
Kenya Policemen have been accused of shooting live bullets at fleeing protesters, in an excessive use of force, in opposition strongholds in the west of the country and in the slums of Nairobi, the capital. The Police too in their shameful manner has defended their actions, saying their men had at times been cornered by demonstrators. If truly demonstrators charged at them, have they lost their sense of training as it relates to managing mob action?
What about the extrajudicial executions of perceived political opponents in the country, were they protesters too?
The defective Policing system existing in Kenya is a replica of the systems existing in all countries on the continent which is laced with human right abuse and other anomalies.
