US embassy cable - 03LAGOS168

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. 
 
 
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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. 
 
 
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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