Policing a plurality of worlds: The Nigeria police in metropolitan Kano

African Affairs

Volumn 111, Issue 442, 2012, Pages 46-66

  Hills, Alice ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF LEEDS   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

AUTHORITARIANISM; CIVIL SOCIETY; COMPETITIVENESS; GOVERNANCE APPROACH; POLICE FORCE; SOCIAL CONFLICT; URBAN POLITICS;

KANO [KANO (STT)]; KANO [NIGERIA]; NIGERIA;

EID: 84855652080     PISSN: 00019909     EISSN: 14682621     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1093/afraf/adr078     Document Type: Article

References (115)

1. Murray Last, 'Violence in northern Nigeria and the processes of post-war reconciliation' (paper for the conference on 'Violence, Political Agency and the Self', Delhi, 1995, p. 2).
2. Human Rights Watch (HRW), 'Revenge in the name of religion: the cycle of violence in Plateau and Kano States' (HRW report, New York, 2005), p. 57.
3. HRW, 'Revenge', p. 1.
4. Compare HRW, 'Arbitrary killings by security forces: submission to the investigative bodies on the November 28-29, 2008 violence in Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria' (HRW, New York, 2009)
5. See Roger Blench, Selbut Longtau, Umar Hassan, and Martin Walsh, 'The role of traditional rulers in conflict prevention and mediation in Nigeria' (DfID paper, 2006)
6. David Ehrhardt, Authoritative Voices: Informal authorities and conflict resolution in Kano, Nigeria (University of Oxford, unpublished MPhil dissertation, 2007)
7. Compare Monique Marks and Andrew Goldsmith, 'The state, the people and democratic policing: the case of South Africa' in Jennifer Wood and Benoît Dupont (eds), Democracy, Society and the Governance of Security (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2006), pp. 139-64.
8. Hard data are difficult to obtain in this area, but evidence can be found in informal and/ or alternative sources. The account offered here is based on informal discussions and a small number of semi-structured interviews with senior and mid-ranking Nigerian officers, officials and academics in Nigeria and the UK during the autumn and winter of 2010-11. This is supplemented by discussions with UK and US officials in Nigeria, and with senior officers from the police, Civil Defence Corps, Hisba, and vigilantes at an ESRC-sponsored workshop in Kano, January 2011. Triangulating the views of officers against those of other ranks or residents proved problematic, so local perspectives are gleaned from popular newspapers such as the Kano-based Daily Triumph and the national Daily Sun.
9. International Crisis Group, 'Northern Nigeria: background to conflict' (Africa Report 168, ICG, 2010), p. i.
10. That policing is a multi-layered activity, and police should cooperate with informal providers such as community groups is an emergent, rather than established policy orthodoxy that is increasingly influential in the UN and amongst donors such as DfID. It links to but is separate from the international trend towards community policing.
11. For advocacy see Peter Albrecht and Helene Maria Kyed, 'Justice and security - when the state isn't the main provider' (Danish Institute for International Studies Policy Brief, December 2010)
12. Bruce Baker, Security in Post-conflict Africa: The role of non-state policing (CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, 2009)
13. Eric Scheye and Louise Andersen, 'Conclusion: Towards a multi-
14. Contrast David Bayley, 'The morphing of peacekeeping: competing approaches to public safety', International Peacekeeping 18, 1 (2011), pp. 52-63.
15. Compare Mike Brogden and Preeti Nijhar, Community Policing: National and international models and approaches (Willan, Cullompton, 2005)
16. Mark Findlay and Uglješa Zveki (eds), Alternative Policing Styles: Cross-cultural perspectives (UNICRI and Kluwer, Deventer, 1993)
17. UNDP, International Human Development Indicators, (19 June 2011).
18. See Roy Maconachie, Urban Growth and Land Degradation in Developing Cities: Change and challenges in Kano, Nigeria (Ashgate, Aldershot, 2007)
19. John Paden, Religion and Political Culture in Kano (University of California, Berkeley, CA, 1973)
20. Typical buildings, colours and traffic can be seen on Youtube.com at, for example, 'Roads of Nigeria 2011 Kano AirPort to Sani Abacha stadium', (20 May 2011).
21. See Conerly Casey, '"Marginal Muslims": politics and the perceptual bounds of Islamic authenticity in northern Nigeria', Africa Today 54, 3 (2008), pp. 67-92.
22. Daniel Smith, 'Internal migration and the escalation of ethnic and religious violence in urban Nigeria' in Martin Murray and Garth Myers (eds), Cities in Contemporary Africa (Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke, 2006)
23. Katja Werthmann, 'Matan bariki, "women of the barracks": Muslim Hausa women in an urban neighbourhood in Northern Nigeria', Africa 72, 1 (2002), pp. 112-30.
24. There are more registered voters in Kano State than anywhere except Lagos
25. 'Lagos leads with 2.6m as INEC registers 22m', The Nation (Lagos), 27 January 2011.
26. 'Shekarau: Devils have taken over PDP', Compass (Isheri), 20 December 2010
27. Even so, Shekarau contributed to Kano's stability before he lost his governorship in the April 2011 elections
28. 'ANPP presidential primary: a celebration of Shekarau's victory in Kano', Daily Triumph (Kano), 2 February 2011, (2 February 2011).
29. Peter Manning, quoted in Wood and Dupont, 'Understanding the governance of security' in Wood and Dupont (eds), Democracy, p. 4.
30. This is the definition used in UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations, 'A new partnership agenda' (UNDPKO, New York, 2009), p. i.
31. The NPF's official site continues to display the objectives of former Inspector General Onovo's 'Blueprint on policing strategy', (2 February 2011).
32. The NPF maintains a three-tier structure of department, zone, and state commands. Its inspector general (or chief officer) is supported at the police's federal headquarters by six deputy inspector generals (DIGs). Each zone is headed by an AIG whose responsibilities include supervising the commissioners of police (CPs) in charge of state commands within the zones.
33. Nigeria Police Force, '2008 Annual Report of the Nigeria Police Force' (NPF, Ikeja, 2008), pp. 144, 134.
34. For an overview of crime see 'Security, crime in retrospect', Leadership (Abuja), 23 December 2010, (23 December 2010).
35. Compare CLEEN, 'National criminal victimization and safety survey, 2009' (CLEEN, Lagos, 2009)
36. Murray Last, 'The search for security in Muslim northern Nigeria', Africa 78, 1 (2008), pp. 41-63.
37. 'Drug use is a big problem in Kano', The News, 12 July 2010, .
38. 'The drug addicts of Kano', The News, 12 July 2010, http://thenewsafrica.com/2010/07/12/the-drug-addicts-of-kano/> (12 July 2010).
39. Compare Aminu Dukku, 'Gadagi consumption among the youth in Kano metropolitan', Bayero Journal of Social and Management Studies 13, 2 (2010), pp. 8-23.
40. For the views of 163 divisional and street-
41. Private communication, mid-ranking officer, Abuja, 25 January 2007
42. Interview, senior officer, Kano, 2 December 2010
43. 'Ethnic politics rocks Nigeria Police', The News, 13 June 2011, (13 June 2011).
44. Kano was allocated N63,058,792 for the financial year 2007/8 (Zone 1 was awarded N24,118,146). In January 2011, N240 approximated to £1.
45. NPF, '2008 Annual Report', p. 179.
46. Interview, senior officer, Kano, 2 December 2010. The NPF's estimated total strength is 377,000-400,000 sworn officers. Senior officers refer to 400,000 officers whereas the consultants engaged by the Ministry of Police Affairs to set up an e-payment platform quote 297,000. According to newspaper reports in late 2010, NPF accounts include some 20,000 ghost officers. The overall police ratio for Nigeria is 1:377. Interview, senior officer, Kano, 2 December 2010.
47. Muhammad held this post from December 2010 to July 2011
48. Personal communication, indigene, Kano, 2 December 2010
49. PMF officers recruited from Katab (58 miles west of Jos) are reputed to take pleasure in shooting Hausa in revenge for earlier inter-ethnic conflict (Last, 'The search for security', p. 44), though an indigene dismissed the comment as inaccurate. Private communication, Kano, 30 November 2010.
50. 'We crushed Boko Haram in my time - DIG Sardauna', The Will (San Francisco), 29 November 2010, (29 November 2010).
51. Based in Maiduguri, Boko Haram demands that Shari'a law should be adopted throughout Nigeria
52. 'UN security expert mans Kano police command', PMNews, 26 July 2011, (26 July 2011).
53. 'Residents commend police', Next (Lagos), 9 December 2010
54. Radda et al., 'A study of the nature of police patrol'.
55. The officers involved consider them dangerous
56. Interview, senior officer, Kano, 2 December 2010. Officers argue that Muslims do not find the use of dogs offensive: Fulani herders keep them.
57. Radda, et al., 'A study of the nature of police patrol', p. 32.
58. This compares favourably with a civil servants' wage of Naira 14,750.00 (US$118). 'Project description: Kano State low-income housing phase II'. (11 May 2011).
59. The monthly income of traditional drug sellers is approximately N10,000. See Dukku, 'Gadagi consumption'. Kano's GNI per capita is US$1,140.00 according to the IBRD/World Bank, 'Doing business in Nigeria 2010', .
60. Compare Rasheed Olaniyi, 'Hisba and the Sharia law enforcement in metropolitan Kano' (IFRA, 'Conflict and violence in Nigeria', Zaria, 2009), (4 September 2010).
61. Philip Ostien, Jamila Nasir, and Franz Kogelmann (eds), Comparative Perspectives on Shari'ah in Nigeria (Spectrum Books, Ibadan, 2005)
62. Gunnar Weimann, Islamic Criminal Law in Northern Nigeria: Politics, Religion, and Judicial Practice (University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, 2007)
63. The NPF often conflates these requirements, as in the development of a 'new strategy' - 'Stop, Search and Raise Your Arms' - for preventing weapons reaching Maiduguri, where Boko Haram is most active
64. See 'Boko Haram sect gives conditions for peace', Guardian (Lagos), 8 February 2011, (8 February 2011).
65. Ehrhardt, Authoritative Voices
66. Private communication, mid-ranking officer, 14 November 2010
67. 'We crushed Boko Haram'
68. 'Kano new compol solicits Triumph's support', Daily Triumph (Kano), 17 December 2010, (17 December 2010).
69. 'IG carpets govt officials on early conflict signals', Daily Trust, 7 December 2010
70. 'IG reads riot act to policemen over Boko Haram attack', Guardian (Lagos), 17 December 2010
71. Compare 'Terrorist attacks: it'll be tough, rough - Onovo, Attah warn security agencies', Sun, 3 January 2010
72. 'Jonathan holds emergency meeting on security', Tribune (Ibadan), 4 January 2011
73. AIT News Hour Report broadcast, 10 September 2010, quoted in Freedom Onuoha, 'The 9/7 Boko Haram attack on Bauchi prison: a case of intelligence failure', Peace and Conflict Monitor, 2 November 2010
74. Murray Last, 'Children and the experience of violence: contrasting cultures of punishment in northern Nigeria', Africa 70, 3 (2000), pp. 359-93.
75. Private communications, UK officials, Kano, November 2010
76. For background see Basil Ugochukwu, 'The State Security Service and human rights in Nigeria', Third World Legal Studies 14, 1 (1996-7), pp. 71-102.
77. Contrast Onuoha, 'The 9/7 Boko Haram Attack', p. 14.
78. 'Hafiz Ringim and the challenge of police reforms', Daily Trust, 26 November 2010
79. Compare NPF, 'Synopsis of Retreat (1): Police High Command and Senior Officials of the Ministry', 8 August 2010. (8 August 2010).
80. Private communication, senior officer, Kano, 13 January 2011
81. 'Police chief reads riot act to criminals', News Star (Ikeja), 7 December 2010
82. 'Crime and effective Policing', Vintage Herald, 27 August 2010, (3 September 2010).
83. Kaduna State Government, 'Kaduna launches new security outfit, security taskforce codenamed "Operation Yaki"', 10 January 2008, (10 January 2011).
84. In October 2010 the House of Representatives intervened after IG Ringim demanded the NSDC be scrapped. Prompted by a fight between NPF and NSCDC men in Sokoto, Leadership referred to 'an unhealthy rivalry', with the NSCDC 'going beyond its constitutionally stipulated functions'.
85. 'Police, Civil Defence clash: matters arising', Leadership, 6 January 2011
86. The NDLEA's Kano State Command seized a total of 3,422.406 kgs of illicit drugs in 2009.
87. 'NDLEA arrests 638 suspects in Kano', Guardian (Lagos), 31 January 2011, (31 January 2011).
88. 'From Plateau to Kaduna, in search of peace', This Day (Lagos), 12 May 2010
89. Radda, et al., 'A study of the nature of police patrol', p. 49.
90. 'Gwagwarwa PCRC chair commends Kano COMPOL', Daily Triumph, 21 June 2011, (21 June 2011).
91. Compare Rasheed Olaniyi, 'Community vigilantes in metropolitan Kano, 1985-2005' (research project, French Institute for Research in Africa (IFRA), Ibadan, 2005)
92. 'Tension in Kano as Shari'a agents, police flex muscles', Compass, 2 April 2009. (12 April 2010).
93. Private communication, mid-ranking officer, 14 November 2010
94. 'Emir bayero [sic] charges police on ethics', Daily Triumph, 17 December 2010
95. For an overview of the Emirate's position, see Blench et al., 'The role of traditional rulers', p. 33.
96. The Emir has a reputation for pragmatism, but his award of a traditional title to Governor Shekarau in 2009 arguably weakened his apolitical position
97. 'Emir confers Sardauna title on Shekarau', Daily Trust, 5 November 2009
98. 'Voter registration: Kano emirate assures INEC of maximum support', Daily Trust, 21 December 2010
99. Blench et al., 'The role of traditional rulers'.
100. David Ehrhardt, 'Traditions for peace: informal organisations and horizontal inequalities in Kano, Nigeria' (unpublished paper, Development Studies Association, 2009), (4 November 2011).
101. John Paden, Muslim Civic Cultures and Conflict Resolution: The challenge of democratic federalism in Nigeria (Brookings Institution, Washington, DC, 2005)
102. Interview, Hotoro headquarters, 14 January 2011. Mohammad suggests that the community value (or personal gratification) of vigilantism compensates for its low status. Contrast arguments that 'Nigerian vigilantes are located within contests over citizenship defined in terms of the politics of identity, gender and generation.'.
103. David Pratten, 'The politics of protection: perspectives on vigilantism in Africa', Africa 78: 1 (2008), pp. 1-15, p. 6.
104. Compare Thomas Kirsch and Tilo Grätz (eds), Domesticating Vigilantism in Africa (James Currey, Woodbridge, 2010)
105. Olaniyi, 'Community vigilantes', pp. 21-32.
106. 'The Constitution of Vigilante [sic] Group of Nigeria. Motto: Say No to Crime' (Abuja, 1999), p. 1.
107. See 'Gov Kwankwaso floats private army, relegates Hisbah guard', Vanguard, 22 August 2011, (22 August 2011).
108. Interview, Hisba Board, Kano, 1 December 2010
109. US State Department, '2008 Human Rights Report: Nigeria' (USSD, Washington, DC, 2009), (5 January 2011).
110. Compare Olaniyi, 'Hisba'
111. 'Kano Hisbah destroys trucks of soft drinks', Leadership, 21 December 2010
112. 'Police, Hisbah partner on crime control in Kano', Daily Trust, 15 December 2010. (15 December 2010).
113. Adam Crawford, 'Policing and security as "club goods": the new enclosures?', in Wood and Dupont (eds), Democracy, pp. 111-38, p. 111.
114. 'Life and death in a city fearful of Islamist gunmen', Guardian (UK), 17 January 2011
115. OECD DAC, 'Guidance on Evaluating Conflict Prevention and Peacebuilding Activities: Working draft for application period' (OECD, Paris, 2008), p. 17.