PEACE AND MAINTENANCE ON THE NATION'S INTERNAL & EXTERNAL BOUNDA= RIES

POLICE AND MAINTENANCE OF PEACE ON THE NATION’S INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL BOUNDA= RIES

A PAPER PRESENTED BY THE IGP, SIR MIKE MBAMA OKIRO<= /p>

AT THE NATIONAL WORKSHOP ORGANISED BY THE NATIONAL BOUNDARY COMMISSION, <= /o:p>

HELD AT THE SHEHU MUSA YAR’ADUA CENTRE, ABUJA FROM 11^TH – 12^TH DECEMBER, 2007

Protocol

Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen = &nb= sp;

It is a unique privilege for me to address this audience of distinguished personalities on this auspicious occasion of a two (2) day National Worksho= p on Boundary Definition and dispute resolution. Let me quickly express my profound gratitude to the National Boundary Commission, the organiser of this import= ant workshop. I am glad that the Commission is committed to ensuring a peaceful co-existence among the state= s of Nigeria<= /st1:country-region>.

2. INTRODUCTION

The 1897 Berlin Conference where the African continent was balkanised without regards to ethnic and cultural differences brought about the source of bord= er disputes. For example, the Ba= kongo tribe was divided into three countries, viz French Congo, Belgia Congo a= nd Portuguese Angola. Somalia was carved up among Britain, I= taly and France. The Hutus could be found in Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Re= public of Congo. In all, the new boundaries cut through about 190 cultural groups. In other cases, the colonial terri= tories enclosed hundreds of diverse and independent groups, with no common history, culture, language or religion. Nigeria= for example contained as many as 250 ethno-linguistic groups. This often led to boundary dispute within, and also border disputes with neighbouring countries. Often times, our people see these international boundaries mere colonial contraptions, as they have to cross these borders to meet their kits and kins, and also carry out economic activities which inevitably include trans-border criminal activities. Internally, the struggle for ferti= le farmlands and other environmental factors often lead to boundary disputes b= etween communities. Politically, the creation of states often placed some communities where they are in minority= and they feel aggrieved due to perceived marginalization. These situations have posed challe= nges to the Police and other security agencies in the maintenance of law and ord= er, and prevention and detection of crimes, especially trans-national crimes.

3. Internal se= curity agencies like the Nigeria Police are looking for their criminals beyond the borders. This new development= is related to trans-national flows and to the surveillance of boundaries (physical, social, and of identity), and can be seen as attempts to re-draw= a border between an inside and outside, a border different from state frontiers. Consideratio= n of internal security questions calls us to think about security issues in gene= ral, the relations between the state and individual as well as the relation to democracy in the contemporary age. <= /span>

4. NIGERIA’S INT= ERNAL AND EXTERNAL BOUNDARIES=

The creation of several states and local governments entailed succes= sive division of the country into a greater number of equal sized states (twelve= ) in 1967, nineteen in 1976, twenty-one in 1987, thirty in 1990, and thirty-six = in 1996) to account for ethnic ties but without explicit acknowledgement of ethnicity in state formation. (Figure 1 shows the map of Nigeria). <= /p>

MAP OF NIGERI= A

Fig. 1

<= /o:p>

5. &nbs= p; State boundaries were formally geographic, but they followed group a= nd subgroup lines very closely with the effect that each of the major groups w= as divided into several smaller states while minorities were recognized several smaller homogenous or heterogenous states.= Also, 301 local governments were created in 1976 and increased to 77= 4 in 1997 to further respond to diversity at the local level.<= /p>

6. = Nigeria is the largest of the Western African coastal states (fig. 2 shows = the map of West Africa). With an area of 356,669 square mil= es (923, 768 square kilometers) it is the 14^th largest country on t= he continent. It is bordered to = the north by Niger, to the= east by Chad and Cameroon, to the south by the Gulf of Guinea, and to the west by B= enin.

MAP OF= WEST AFRICA

3D"Text

7. STATUTORY ROLE OF THE NIGERIA<= /st1:country-region> POLICE FORCE

The Nigeria Police was established by virtue of section 214 of the 1999 Constit= ution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and entrusted with the powers to ensure = the internal security of the country. Furthermore, section 4 of the Police Act enumerated the duties of the Police to include the following:

i.&n= bsp; = ; Prevention and detection of cr= ime;

ii.&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Apprehension of offenders;

iii.= &nb= sp; Preservation of law and order;=

iv.&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Protection of life and propert= y;

v.&n= bsp; = ; Due enforcement of laws and regulations with which they are directly charged, and

vi.&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Performance of such military duties within or without Nigeria as may be required by them, or under the authority of this or any other act= .

8. Since my appointment as the Inspector-General of Police, on 1^st June, = 2007 I swung into action immediately by drawing up my action plan for the Force. This was done in order= to meet the yearnings of the citizenry and create conducive environment for the Government to implement its socio-economic programmes through crime prevent= ion and control. My choice of thi= s goal as priority was based on my conviction that for the economic agenda of Mr. President to become a reality, there has to be domestic peace, law and orde= r.

9. STRATEGIES ADOPTED

Strategy is an elaborate and systematic plan of action. The Police, conscious of the fact = that its role is providing effective internal security adopted the following strategies;

1.&n= bsp; = ; Es= tablishment of Police post along the borders

2.&n= bsp; = ; Cr= eation of trans-border patrol department in the Nigeria Police Force, with a Commissioner of Police as the head

3.&n= bsp; = ; Jo= int Police, Customs, Immigration border patrol

4.&n= bsp; = ; Ba= nkrolling of the purchasing of vehicles distributed to Benin, Cameroon and Niger b= y the Nigeria Police Force

5.&n= bsp; = ; Us= e of Police horses to patrol different terrains along the border. Police has also introduced aerial = patrol along the borders to fortify border security and deter criminals.

6.&n= bsp; = ; Tr= aining of contingents from neighbouring countries, contingents from Chad and N= iger were trained in Gwoza while those from Beni= n were trained at Police College, Ikeja and Sea School, Apapa.

7.&n= bsp; = ; In= tensification of proactive efforts at checkmating trans-border crimes;<= /p>

i.&n= bsp; = ; &n= bsp; Tr= afficking in person has reduced greatly by collaborating with NAPTIP.

ii.&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Tr= afficking in drugs is another crime across our borders. The National Drug Law Enforcement = and Agency has been collaborating with the Nigeria Police to stem the tides.

iii.= &nb= sp; = Tr= afficking in arms and ammunition. This = is another area of great concern, but with joint patrol of Police and Custom officers, the criminals are being arrested day-in-day-out.

8.&n= bsp; = ; Pr= oposed joint crime intelligence data base on trans-border crimes. A recently signed WAPPCO agreement= with Benin a= llows for hot pursuit – entrance into other countries when pursuing crimina= ls, up to 10km;

9. The setting= up of conflict resolution officers by the Police Force at every division that are expected to nip in the bud any restiveness in the border areas.

10. Realising the fact that the ultimate goal of crime prevention is the creation of safe communities, where peace, law and order would reign, the p= resent Police administration has been soliciting the active involvement of all sec= tors of the society. Crime prevent= ion is the attempt to use social resources to change the conditions that can predispose people to commit crimes. Also, crime prevention programme include community programmes design= ed to improve social conditions, public education campaigns to alert people on= the consequences of deviant activities and inform potential victims of ways to minimize risks, programmes to reduce the opportunity for perception of crim= es by improving the security of property and person.

11. Community Crime Prevention depends to a very large extent, upon the level of confidence and trust that the people have in their police. As long as the confidence and trust level remain low, the people will frequently not notify the Police of situations that require enforcement or prevention. In other words, trust is the value= that underlines and links the components of community policing and problem solvi= ng.

12. THRE= ATS TO NIGERIA<= /st1:country-region> INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL BOUNDARIES

Threats to Ni= geria internal and external boundaries are being decisively dealt with by the law enforcement agencies and the National Boundary Commission. Committees are always set up to lo= ok into the cases of boundary disputes with a view resolving the crisis amicably. The National Bounda= ry Commission has been able to deal with some of the following cases:

Ondo – Ekiti dispute;

Oyo – Osun dispute, and

Kogi – Enugu dispute

The Nigeria Police has always been called in t= o save the situation whenever the boundary disputes escalate to conflict. Some of the areas we have interven= ed are:

i.&n= bsp; = ; &n= bsp; Iw= aken border in Cross River;

ii.&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Ag= uleri and Umuleri boundary dispute;

iii.= &nb= sp; = Tiv and Jukun border crisis;

iv.&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Nigeria and Lake Chad cooperation, and

v.&n= bsp; = ; &n= bsp; Nigeria – Cameroon border conflict.

Relatively, the issue of boundary disputes within Nigeria= ’s state is minimal and the government is leaving no stone unturned to find a solution to other lingering crises.

13. Nigeria<= span style=3D'font-size:18.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Arial Narrow";mso-a= nsi-language: EN-US'> does not have much problem with its external boundaries, except the recent case of Bakassi-Pennisula. The issue has been resolved by the United Nations and the two countr= ies (Nigeria and Cameroon) are committed to implementing the agreement reached to the later. The Inspector-General of Police is in New York, USA representing the country in a follow up meeting on Bakassi-Pennisula crisis= .

14. ACH= IEVEMENTS OF THE JOINT BORDER PARTOL OPERATIONS

The successes achieved in joint operations have reinforced the belief that genuine cooperation and collaboration amongst EC= OWAS nations can bring about stability and restore hope and confidence of our pe= ople in Police authorities. Some of the successes include:

i.&n= bsp; = ; &n= bsp; Cr= eation of awareness that no sanctuary exists in any of our member countries for criminals who hitherto took advantage of inviolability of the other soverei= gnty to perpetrate crime and escape to that other country;

ii.&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Cu= rtailing and drastic reduction of cross border banditry. Arrest of trans-border criminals s= uch as Hamman Tidjani and his successful prosecution;

iii.= &nb= sp; = Re= covery of large scale of arms and ammunition;

iv.&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; The recovery and handling over of large number of vehicles stolen from Nigeria, which were taken across the borders to Benin Republic and the apprehension = and prosecution of armed robbers and criminal receives involved in this heinous acts.

v.&n= bsp; = ; &n= bsp; Br= eakthrough in the area of child labour and trafficking as children meant for child lab= our in Nigeria were return= ed to their parents in Benin Republic.

15. CONCLUSION

Let me end by soliciting the support and cooperation of all and sund= ry in the arduous task of policing Nigeria. We all have a stake in the securit= y, and well-being of our people and maintenance of peace within our internal and external boundaries. Let us join hands and make Nigeria a safer environment conducive for = the realization of Mr. President’s economic vision for making Nigeria= one of the top 20 economies in the world by the year 2020.

Thank you all.

REFERE= NCES<= /o:p>

= 1.&n= bsp; Basil Daidson, The Black Man’s Burden: Africa and the Curse= of the Nation State (New York: Times Books, 1992).

= 2.&n= bsp; Boutros Boutros Ghali: = An Agenda for Development 1995 (New York, United Nations Department of Public Information, 1995), P. 1

= 3.&n= bsp; Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999.

= 4.&n= bsp; F.H. Hinsley, Sovereign= ty (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1986) P. 41

= 5.&n= bsp; International Policies, African Realities – Report from the Third Session of Electronic Roundtable, 2000.

= 6.&n= bsp; Jarat Chopra, “The space of Peace Maintenance “ Political Geography, Vol. 15, No. 13/14, March/April, 1996, Pp. 335 – 357.

= 7.&n= bsp; Jarat Chopra: Peace Maintenance - The Last Stage of Development, first published in a Global Society, Vol. II, No. 2, 1997.

= 8.&n= bsp; Jeffrey Herbest –= The creation and maintenance of National Boundaries in Africa, International Organisation, Vol. 43, No. 4, (Autumn, 1989) Pp. 673 – 692.

= 9.&n= bsp; Marshal D. Sahlins and Elman R. Service, Eds Evolution and Culture (Ann Arbo= r, MI: University of Michigan Press, = 1970.

= 10.&= nbsp; Police Act (Cap. 359) w= ith Regulation Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 1990.

= 11.&= nbsp; The New Encyclopaedia Britannica, Vol. 29, 15^th Edition, 2003. Pp. 1088