Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
03LAGOS168
2003-01-24 09:55:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Consulate Lagos
Cable title:  

A CONVERSATION WITH THE POLICE

Tags:  PGOV PINS PINR EPET ASEC NI 
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 LAGOS 000168 

SIPDIS


CAIRO FOR JAMES E. MAXSTADT


E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/13/2013
TAGS: PGOV PINS PINR EPET ASEC NI
SUBJECT: A CONVERSATION WITH THE POLICE


REF: LAGOS 00148


Classified By: CONSUL GENERAL ROBYN HINSON-JONES.
REASONS 1.5 (B) (D)


C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 LAGOS 000168

SIPDIS


CAIRO FOR JAMES E. MAXSTADT


E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/13/2013
TAGS: PGOV PINS PINR EPET ASEC NI
SUBJECT: A CONVERSATION WITH THE POLICE


REF: LAGOS 00148


Classified By: CONSUL GENERAL ROBYN HINSON-JONES.
REASONS 1.5 (B) (D)



1. (C) Summary: A very discouraged Deputy Police Commissioner
(DPC) for Lagos State met with CG and Econoff on January
7 to discuss the recent fire at the national petroleum company
building and the realities of police work in Lagos State.
With an undercurrent of futility and resignation, DPC
Haruna John (please protect) presented his view of crime
and punishment in Nigeria.


--------------
No way to run a poIice force
--------------



2. (C) The Deputy Police Commissioner lamented that it is
impossible to live on a policeman's salary at any level of
the force. No officers can survive without engaging in the
corruption that flows from top to bottom. He explained that
Nigerian police constables earn about N5000 a month --
approx. USD 45 -- when they are paid. Police are forced to
supplement their incomes and often use "roadblock money"
(bribes extracted from motorists) to subsist. John confessed
that he augments his income illicitly with a construction
business that is made possible by his position and rank on
the police force.



3. (C) Althouqh uniforms are promised by the government,
most policemen buy their own because there are never enough
for everyone. Sometimes this results in incomplete
uniforms or uniforms of differing colors and fabric types.
Some policemen even chip in their own money to gas up the
police cars. Others use the courtyards of police stations
as places to sleep.


Asked why anyone joins the police, John stated that he
believes in the force although he admits that some use
it for criminal activities.


Some join because they see opportunities to make money
throuqh extortion or because they have no other prospects.
Despite a tradition of testing for competence, the police
force today checks neither background nor ability.
The illiterate, miscreants, and even those with criminal
records can and do join.



4. (C) It is not surprising that criminals, politicians,
and the public treat the police with disdain. John explained
that when he first was posted to Lagos, he instructed his
officers to arrest criminals in the Oodua People's Congress,
a Yoruba vigilante and criminal orqanization. To his chagrin,
John was openly reprimanded and his instructions reversed.
In Lagos, he learned, the police don't arrest the OPC.


--------------
A Rawlings style housecleaning
--------------



5. (C) Pointing to the corruption of people in power, John
called the electorate apathetic and predicted that in April
the voters will elect "whoever gives them the most rice."
He expects election violence in many areas of Nigeria,
particularly the Western states, but he predicted that
Lagos will be relatively peaceful because it is an Alliance
for Democracy stronghold and virtually a one-party state.



6. (C) Visibly distressed and admitting that he hates
the military, John said that a Jerry Rawlings style of
housecleaning might be the only way to solve Nigeria's
problems. Reminded that corruption is not unique to
civilian governments, John rationalized that military
governments were surrounded by fewer sycophants and
supporters looking for financial favors. Therefore, more
money trickled down to the masses.



7. (C) DPC John said that all indications suggest the
December 24 fire at the Nigerian National Petroleum Company
(reftel) was deliberately set. He opined that the suspect
in custody was probably paid to torch the building by those
who wanted to cover up wrong-doing. Looking pensive, the
DPC predicted that the true story about the fire would never
be exposed.



8. (C) Comment. The Nigerian police force has long been
neglected by the GON and the DPC is willing to talk about it.
Without massive assistance, the Nigerian police force will
continue to be ill-trained and could not handle large-scale
violence should it arise in the course of the April 2003
elections. The police force in Lagos would welcome USG
assistance, even if only for a small number of police
officials prior to the elections. DPC John realizes that it
will take a long time to address all of the police force's
problems satisfactorily. Meanwhile, he expects that extortion
and other abuses will continue as a way of life , as
will the force's bad relations with the community.


HINSON-JONES