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Perspectives on the Nigeria Police Force
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The Nigeria Police still parades many officers of high moral and ethical standards who strive to uphold the code of conduct of the force
By Bola Bakare
WHAT is known as the Nigeria Police Force in Nigeria today was first established in 1820. It has, however, gone through many stages and years of restructuring, reformation and reorganisation during and after the British Colonial administration in the country. During the colonial period, most police formations were associated with local governments which were then known as the Native Authorities.
An amalgamation of the defunct Northern Nigeria Police, NNP, and the Southern Nigeria Police, SNP, led to the formation of the current Nigeria Police Force in 1930. In strength, growth and character, the Nigeria Police Force, as a security agency, had been greatly influenced and impacted by the various stages of Nigeria’s political trajectory; finally
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The Nigeria Police Force was officially commissioned in or around 1930, as the main law enforcement outfit in Nigeria, with about 371,800 members. It was originally established around 1820 by the colonial powers, as an instrument of coercion and enforcement of the native authority system. When eventually the protectorates of Northern and Southern Nigeria were proclaimed in the early 1900s by Britain, there was then established, the Northern Nigeria Police and the Southern Nigeria Police. However, the first statutory recognition for the police came by way of the Police Act of 1st April 1943, which was only recently repealed by the new Police Act of 2020.