NIGERIA POLICE AND CONTEMPORARY LAW ENFORCEMENT: ISSUES AND CHALLENGES
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Date
2021-02
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
THE FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES, UNIVERSITY OF ILORIN, P.M.B. 1515, ILORIN, NIGERIA.
Abstract
The police is regarded as the gatekeeper of the criminal justice process and the biggest
and most visible subsystem of the criminal justice system entrusted with the
constitutional duty to protect the citizens. In Nigeria, however, the police suffer from
negative public image, and have come under intense criticisms over the way they carry
out their law enforcement duties. Therefore, this work presents a review of major
issues and challenges facing the Nigeria police force regarding its capacity to
effectively discharge its constitutional duties. The work employed secondary sources
of data such as text books, journal articles, newspapers and internet-based materials
among others. The result shows that, some of the major factors hampering police
effectiveness include corruption, poor personnel welfare, shortage of manpower,
police brutality and abuse of power, colonial legacy, political interference, nepotism,
among others. It is recommended among others that the police force should make the
welfare of their officers a top concern, and the issue of police corruption should be
thoroughly dealt with using reward-punishment approach. In addition, nepotism and
favoritism in recruitment and promotion of officers should be discouraged.
Description
Keywords
Nigeria police, policing, law enforcement, police corruption, police brutality