An Appraisal of Police Performance in Crisis Management: A Case Study of Metropolitan Kano

Article Citation: Mohammed Ghali Usman and Andrew James Mshelbara (2023). An Appraisal of Police Performance in Crisis Management: A Case Study of Metropolitan Kano. DEGEL: The Journal of the Faculty of Arts and Islamic Studies, Vol. 20, No. 1 & 2. ISSN 0794-9316

AN APPRAISAL OF POLICE PERFORMANCE IN CRISIS MANAGEMENT: A CASE STUDY OF METROPOLITAN KANO

By

Mohammed Ghali Usman and Andrew James Mshelbara

Abstract

The research focuses on the performance of the Nigeria Police Force in crisis management using metropolitan Kano as a case study. The research considered the Nigeria Police Force as a significant partner in the management of crisis and so it attempts to appraise the performance of the force so as to determine whether the police have been performing brilliantly or in a lacklustre manner. The main aim is to identify the factors that are responsible for the poor performance of the police in crisis management. The research uses the descriptive research method which is designed to enable the researcher to obtain opinion of representation sample of the research population. Using the concept of performativity, the research was designed on the hypothesis that the performance of the police has a major or no significance difference compared with other security agencies. The major findings of this research indicated that in the way the police handle and manage crisis, their behavioral conduct is generally poor. Likewise, the performance of the police based on the use of equipment is also poor. In order to determine the performance of the Nigeria Police Force based on comparative performativity, the police were least rated compared to two other security agencies. The research suggests that the police needs to be adequately trained to effectively manage crisis and the authorities ought to be proactive in ensuring that the police are well equipped in all aspect to handle crisis effectively.

Introduction

All over the world, the police are daily facing crucial challenges of trying to contain and effectively manage the outbreak of one form of crisis or the other. Crisis in the world today appear in different kind of forms and characteristics and in whatever manner they appear, the police in almost all countries of the world are one way or the other directly or indirectly involved in the efforts to contain such crisis. As Rich (2018) posits, a crisis can be defined as an unstable state of affairs, emotionally significant event, or situation that has reached a critical phase. Crisis are seen as difficult and dangerous situation that often needs serious attention, it is a special time when action needed to be taken to avoid a disaster or a total breakdown. Crisis can appear in form of violent protests, religious strife, ethnic and border clashes, political upheavals and environmental and natural disaster (Tinubu, 1993).

The role of the police in any crisis situation cannot be overemphasized, because are expected to figure out what went wrong, as a head start in crisis management and resolution as there is always a catalyst that prompts human behavior (Rich, 2018). In Nigeria today, the police like their counterpart in all parts of the world are daily faced with the challenge of containing one form of crisis or the other. Since independence, Nigeria has experienced one form of crisis to another that has posed serious security challenge to the nation and her security apparatus. Since the return to democratic rule in the country in 1999, Nigeria has continued to face more daunting security challenges that threaten her existence as a nation. It has continually become a thing of challenge and an uphill task for the Nigeria Police Force to handle the myriad security challenges facing the country.

Nigeria has experience crisis that often appear in ethno-religious violence, political crisis, but many Nigerians are dissatisfied with the police performance in handling some of these crises as the police have been accused of poor professional conduct, poor crisis management tactics, abuse of human rights in the discharge of their duties, lack of intelligence gathering to nip crisis in the bud, lack of swift and prompt action even after receiving intelligence of pending crisis, etc. The desire to conduct this study was stemmed out of the rising call by the general populace for the police to live up to its expectation in handling crisis in the country as practiced in other climes of the world.

Kano metropolis is chosen as a case study because it presents a typically boisterous and highly populated city, with history of crisis in different dimension ranging from socio-political to religious ones. Kano is one of the complex cities in the country and present a challenging litmus for the Nigeria Police. The challenges confronting the NPF in policing the city has to do with a lot of factors which includes the volatility of its local politics and the horrific legacies of violence that left in its throes wanton destruction of lives and properties (Barje, 2018). Sectarian divisions play a significant role as witnessed most recently with the outbreak of the Boko Haram sect. The city has suffered its own share of attacks on both the citizens and the police force whose institutions and other security related institutions were not spared from the insurgents.

This research attempts to study the performance of the Nigeria Police Force in crisis management using metropolitan Kano as a case study. Metropolitan Kano is policed as part of Kano State Police Command with its headquarters at Bompai. The metropolitan area also accommodates the Zone 1 Command of the NPF which comprises of Kano, Katsina and Jigawa states which is one of the biggest Command Zones in the country. Kano has 3 Area Commands, 67 Police Divisions, 17 Police Stations and 105 Police Posts (Nigeria Police Force, 2008). The Police Mobile Force (PMF) which was established as a striking or anti-riot squad under the Inspector-General to counter acts of political thuggery and isolated incidence of civil disturbance has a marked presence within the city. Squadron 9 PMF Kano serves as a backup squad for the regular police force and has been instrumental in quelling communal disturbances, banditry, religious insurrection and terrorism. As of 2008 there are 5,853 policemen under Kano State Police Command who were responsible for more than 9 million people that make up the population of the state with about one-third of this population residing within the metropolitan area.

Significance of the Study

This research is significant in many ways and also timely. The growing concern for the improvement of security in the country has been an issue of great concern to both the government and the citizens. The security agencies in the country are therefore faced with the challenge of meeting up with the expectation of the state and the people as well bracing up to face the challenge posed by criminal elements.

This research is partly intended to aid the police to have a retrospection of their activities and action during crisis, it is hoped that the findings of the research will inspire an objective and positive directional behavior of the officers. Several researches based their findings more on assumptions rather than empirical research, this research attempt to provide empirical results as to the performance of the police in crisis management.

Conceptual Framework

The conceptual framework which influence the design of the questionnaire was targeted at looking at the police in crisis situation using parameters that focus on the performativity of actions and deeds not only restricts itself to the management of information alone (Gonzalez, 2008). Kano is a significant commercial centre in the country and has a lot of historical value in terms of religion and socialization. It is therefore not surprising that the city has witnessed its share of socio-political and religious turbulence. To this end this research would contribute significantly to the growing number of researches in Kano that focus on how to improve the policing culture especially by the Nigeria Police Force.

Review of Literature on Crisis Management: Concepts and General Perspective

There are many theoretical views as regards the police and crisis management, however for the benefit of this research an approach was adopted that will suit the framework. To this end this research will make use of the concept of “performativity to crisis management”, which is a conceptual lens that will enrich the readers understanding of the influence of crisis responders’ behavior during crisis response. Some of the proponents of “crisis management concept” observed that in any crisis situation interactions play a crucial role in an organisation’s ability in coping with any threats and organizational dysfunction (Gonzales, 2008). Hence, it is often presupposed that to meet with an unstable situation, crisis responders have to develop a common understanding of the situation and share information effectively (Mitroff, Pearson and Harrington, 1996). This is the basic approach of the crisis management theory which further suggest and identify good practices and technological resources to ease information transmission.

However, Anouck and Jean-Luc (2013) proposed an alternative crisis management framework based on the concept of performativity which suggests that information is shaped by performative characteristics and behaviors that are both acted and watched as performances. Summarily, their concept in the crisis management approach is threefold: first it highlights the subtle role of the performance of emotions and professionalism on coordination in crisis response. In addition, their analysis demonstrates that the inherent duality of performance, e.g. the roles of an actor and a spectator, influenced the way crisis responders mobilised and committed into the crisis response. In this regard the concept cautions against allowing performing emotions such as empathy or anger by the crisis responders, which can generate more chaos and also instigate essential reactions. More importantly this concept alludes that a performance can have a prominent role on the outcome of interactions between crisis responders.

Perhaps the best way to start is to look at an overview of crisis management in the world of policing at a general level. Crisis situations are not peculiar to Nigeria alone because on a daily basis police formation world over encounter one form of crisis or the other and are faced with the daunting challenge to contain and bring the situation under control. It has become significant to constantly remind and educate police on how best to handle crisis situation. Rich (2018), suggests that the best way the police could handle any crisis situation is if they are conscious of the environment and if they show some empathy. According to Rich, effective crisis management and resolution rely on a different aspect of the situational awareness that keeps the police personnel aware, this include being aware of the environmental elements and assessing the threat. He sees the officer’s perception and comprehension of this dynamic psychological environment, along with real-time adjustments to his or her actions, can go a long way toward producing a peaceful outcome in any situation. Rich views are limited because it is more concerned about the safety of the police officer and ignoble of the fact that in crisis situation, there are also innocent people that could be victims. Environmental conditions alone do not bring a peaceful outcome or resolution, other variables have to be considered. But he mentioned that compassion is often one of the best tools for defusing a crisis and he pointed out that certain situations will require officers to take the aggressive approach; for instance, he pointed that hard-core criminals typically only respond to speed, surprise and violence of action.

James (2013), explores the knowledge base and procedures necessary for a law enforcement leader to plan, mitigate and respond to a crisis and the subsequent consequences. However, the book is more a practical and tactical guide that deals with actions more than psychological and emotional approaches. The essentials of the books focused more on the dynamic and evolving environment of terrorism and natural disasters with less focus on public disorder. The book is informative and highly recommended as a practical guide with aspect bothering on inter-agency cooperation, legal implications of certain actions etc.

Mitroff and Kroeker (2014), sees a totally new dimension to crisis, by viewing it as a crisis resulting from a crisis; but this time around when entire community, groups etc. turned against the police in protest for their actions. His article is a wake-up call for police organizations to see the need to seamlessly weave crisis management into day-to-day operations. He states the need for every officer to be trained and evaluated with respect to the best practices of crisis management. Their view stipulates that the worst form of crisis management is reactive, that is, responding without any prior preparation or training…. But most of all, good crisis Management is not just responding well to crises once they occurred. Good Crisis Management is doing everything humanly possible to prevent major crises from happening in the first place.

Like Mitroff and Kroeker above, Chukwuma (2005) also noted that police-citizens contacts in crisis situation can often result in prejudice and preconceived notions which could often breed antagonism. This usually happens in places where the police concentrate on law enforcement than in societies where the police blend law enforcement and social welfare services. Consequently, he advice that “except the police see themselves as part of the social fabric of a community, they will be perceived as an alien force, and, unless they are clearly visible in their roles of helping people in trouble, they will be seen as a mercenary army of enforcers”.

Tinubu (1993), in discussing the statutory functions and powers of the police listed the Preservation of Law and Order and Protection of Property as one of the functions. He elaborated that function to cover dealing with labour and student unrests, religious strife, border disputes, ethnic clashes, natural and major disasters, political upheavals etc. He observed that the police are usually the first point of call even in events that needs specialized agencies to handle it, the police are expected to put the situation under control and to ensure that lives and properties are salvage and protected pending the arrival of the specialized units.

The Nigeria Police Force and Incidences of Crises Management

In order to bring to light the subject of the research, it is imperative to review literature that covers aspects that has to do with crisis management as it concerns the Nigeria Police. However, one of the major limitations of the literatures reviewed in regards to the Nigeria Police handling of crisis is that, most of the literature only provide incidences of crisis involving the police and how the writers felt the police performed, hence the sub topic.

Oshita analysed the performance of the Nigeria Police Force in crisis situation since the commencement of the Fourth Republic from 1999 – 2013. Among some of the major crisis he was able to identify are ethno-religious crisis in different states of the federation like Kaduna, Kano, Jos, Benue etc., the several years of militancy in the Niger Delta area of the country, followed by several other clashes resulting in crisis from groups and associations that represent the interest of their ethnic nationalities and several ideologies like the OPC (Oduduwa Peoples’ Congress), MOSSOP (Movement for the Sovereign Survival of the Ogoni People) and others. While his study gives insight into the background and enumerated some instances of crises and violent eruptions of disorder in the country, the writer did not clearly specify the role of the police but was rather quick to apportion blame and call for inter-agency cooperation especially between the police and the military.

Vaaseh and Barje (2015) focus first on the administration of Olusegun Obasanjo which was another litmus test for the police. No sooner had the administration been sworn in than the once tense Niger Delta exploded in series of militant activities that threatened the nation’s security. The Niger Delta area is known for its notoriety in illegal arms dealing, this was largely aided by their location on the coast and the presence of many creeks which made it easier for smuggled items to be illegally routed into the region and make them elude the security agencies easily. The regions longstanding disaffection regarding the damage made on their homeland by the oil Companies manifested into ‘militant’ activities against the government and the Oil Companies.

The militants’ activities took a worrisome dimension when on the 20 July 1999 militant youths from Oporoma in Southern Ijaw Local Government of Bayelsa State abducted two workers of Wilbros Oil Prospecting Company. Ten days later, another employee of the company of Dutch origin was also kidnapped at Choba Rivers State. This opened series of attacks and kidnapped on oil facilities and oil workers especially expatriate staff of the various oil companies. In all this the police were involved in investigation and trying to push down the rise of militant activities in the affected regions. The situation appeared to have overwhelmed the police when on the 4 of November 1999, nine police officers including an Area Commander and a Divisional Police Officer were killed by youths in Odi, Bayelsa state. A few days later three police officers and three soldiers were also killed by militant youths. This prompted the civilian administration to draft in a combine force of military and police men to Odi, in an operation that was condemned to be forceful as the action of the military men was seen as an act of retaliation rather than an act of justice.

Like in the case of the militants, in 2001 another round of hostilities ensued between the Tivs and the Jukuns again with greater consequences than the conflict in the 90s. A misunderstanding between a Tiv man and a Fulani pastoralist rekindle the old flame of rivalry when the Jukun came in aid of the Fulani. The Obasanjo administration was said to have wasted no time in sending a combined military and police force to tackle the crisis. But in what appears to be a presumed conflict of interest between two Army Chiefs who belong to the different factions, there were accusations of the security personnel taking sides. The then Chief of Army Staff Gen. Theophilus Danjuma who was a Jukun was seen as using his office as the Army chief to favor his ethnic group, which also brought him to clash with a former Army Chief Victor Malu a Tiv man.

The crisis took a worrisome dimension when four policemen were killed by the Tiv and shortly after that incident a military patrol team were ambushed at Vaase, and taken to Zaki Biam where they were brutally murdered. This prompted a full forced military and police action with condemnable outcome like the previous operation in Odi Bayelsa state. In both scenarios it shows the inherent repetition of police inefficiency supplanted by an often-brutal joint police military action. Though the action of the military and police are seen as characteristic of Military regimes, the position however taken in consideration was the fact that the Civilian regime of Obasanjo was seen more or less as a continuation of the prolonged military rule which he was part of.

Barje (2015) was able to identify some of the major performance of the Nigeria Police from independence to the military era up to 1979. He analyzed the Nigeria Police performance in their involvement with the military and the research suggested that constant intermingling with the military has somewhat deviated the police from their primary objective of being the civilian protector. This is because the police at several times tried to act like the military and seek equal recognition. However, the military rulers have remained dodged in police reforms as they allow the police to wallow in penury at the detriment of their effectiveness in ensuring the security of lives and properties. Years of neglect and feeling of being a force, made the police brutal and unskillful in dealing with the civilian population they are meant to protect.

Sani (2017) also identified some of the major conflicts and crises in Nigeria since the return to democratic rule and these include; Ijaw and Itsekiri betwee 1999 and 2003, Shagamu and Hausa community crisis, Ife and Modakeke crisis; the ethno-religious crisis in Kaduna in 2000, 2002 and 2005. Others are the 2005 political crisis in Okene, Kano in 2004 and 2005, Tiv-Jukun 1999 – 2003, Aguleri and Umuleri in Anambra state etc. Sani tried to justify the rational of involving the military in crisis resolution when other agencies, especially the police, who are responsible for such are often seen as incompetent in handling the situation. He attempted to juxtapose arguments for and against the use of the military in handling crisis as against the conventional and global practice of involving the police first. While trying to analyse the participation of the military in crisis management, Sani’s own perspective seem to lean towards allowing the military to be fully involved in crisis resolution as seen in his suggestion for a solution. His remedy for that does not in any way see the police as being of important rather he emphasized on the need for the government to properly equip the military to be able to handle crisis situation. It’s a typical example of the ordinary Nigerian mentality, where the police are seen as completely incapable of handling even a minor crisis.

Alemika (2010) research on crisis in the Nigeria Police looks at the dimension of the crisis not with a second or third party, but an internal crisis that hinders the performance of the Nigeria Police. Alemika identify some structural and institutional constraints that he feels are responsible for the crisis within the force. The crisis he identified are engendered in the area of performance, integrity and accountability. Relative to this topic of research is the ‘crisis of performance’ and ‘police incivility, brutality and police-public antagonism’. On the former he concludes that the performance of the police is unsatisfactory as the police remain ineffective and inefficient. From the former point he observed that the relationship between the Nigeria Police and the public is generally hostile, due to the legacy of oppression and citizens’ misconception of the role of the police.

Ibeanu and Mohmoh (2008) observed that crucial to responding to critical security needs is the police who often are considered the first to arrive at the scene or to get involved. In their submissions, they noted that security response entails the use of force by the police. In the case of Nigeria, they pointed out that the methods of crisis response used by the Nigeria Police often fail, “because many of the communities in conflict are able to overwhelm the Nigeria police.” Giving an instance in the security response to the Niger Delta crisis, they quoted a federal report which suggested that the two main reason why it is difficult to effectively police the Niger Delta was that the youths are armed with sophisticated weapons more than the police and secondly the people lack needed cooperation with the police. However, their studies though insightful focus more on the role of the state in responding to security situations and it focuses on all the security agencies under the state including non-state security actors, which makes their study clumsy and ambitious.

Danmaraya, I. et-al (2016) discusses the challenges of the police in Nigeria amidst the rising tide of insecurity especially from the inception of the fourth republic. Researching in the backdrop of political assassinations, rising armed robbery rate and communal clashes, they outline the impact of the policy of ‘operation fire for fire’ launched by a former Inspector General of Police Mr. Tafa Balogun. However, like other policy instrument before it, the operation could not yield the desired result at the long run. The research is on the periphery and it only highlighted the challenges of the police in the country and has not incise deeply into the roles and methods of handling the crises situations they mentioned or the weaknesses of the public and the police.

Research Design

This research adopted the description survey method which is aimed at appraising the performance of the Nigeria Police Force in crisis management and its attendant effect on the overall policing environment, using metropolitan Kano as an example. The research design requires the use of data that are collected from a section of the population which is used as the sample for the research. The data collected are focused on deriving information on the existing condition and methods and strategy used by the Nigeria Police in any crisis situation, the objective of these collection is to arrive at a reasonable conclusion leading to comprehensible recommendation. A descriptive research design would enable the researchers to obtain opinion of a representation sample of the research population which is needful for reference purposes.

Population Sample

In this research selected areas and Police Stations within the metropolis of Kano constitute the research population; but in selecting the area the researchers were careful to select areas that are prone to violence especially renowned areas in Fagge, Tarauni, Dala and Nassarawa. Note however that data are also sampled from other areas but these represent core crisis prone areas. Asides this, separate opinions/ratings of 10 carefully selected individuals grouped in three different groups and three separate categories were sought out. Each group is used as a sample to represent opinions and ratings for the Nigeria Police Force, Police Mobile Force and the Nigeria Military. Also, in each of the eight Local Government that make up the metropolitan area, ten (10) respondents were selected and all responded to questions relating to the performance of the police in crisis management.

In total, a sample of eighty (80) respondents were selected for an aspect of the study, out of these forty (40) are civilians and the other half are policemen. Those sample are those who have confirmed that they have witnessed or have participated in the quelling of any crisis respectively. In the other aspect, the ratings of ten (10) individual group were selected for the study constituting a sample of opinion and ratings each given for the performance of the police, PMF and military; in all a total of thirty (30) persons were used indirectly to rate the performance of the police on a scale of 1 – 100 %. Some parameters that rhyme with the other aspect, focusing on performance on two basic variables were itemized. On each of the four parameters the respondent is expected to score the institution and a simple sum of all the scores from the parameters make up the percentage.

Results

Data collected from the civil populace and the officers of the Nigeria Police Force within metropolitan Kano were scrutinized first on the basis of two determining thematic approach, that is, Performance Based on Behavioral Conduct and Performance Based on the Availability of Equipment. The data were collected from sampled population in each of the eight LGAs that made up the metropolis of Kano, which comprise the first set of observation and analysis. The second data collected were scores derived from individual grouped rating of three security agencies which are the Nigeria Police regular duty officers, the Mobile Police Force or MOPOL who are not included with the police in the mainstream of this research and the Nigeria military.

Discussion

From the commencement of this research, we have argued that the performance of the police in crisis management is significant in ensuring a peaceful resolution or an absolute control of the situation and putting things back to order. From a global perspective, the role of the police in any conflict and crisis situation cannot be undermined. Therefore, for any nation to succeed and have a level of internal security control, her police officers must be proactive in ensuring that crises are properly and efficiently managed and not let out of control.

Best global practice when it comes to security control, especially internal security, the first responders to crisis situation are the police before any other. And in situation where Special Forces are drafted or Special Squads, it must have been that the situation has spiral out of control. In most advance countries of the world, hardly are the military seen patrolling the streets, establishing road-blocks, controlling mob and violent groups etc., except when the situation has reached a national security breach or raised national concern. In such instances, State of Emergency is declared in the affected areas and most times the military are drafted to the areas, as the situation is considered too big for the police to handle and as such, is seen as a potential threat to national peace. Only in such situation is the military drafted to respond to such.

Crisis management can come in several fold, however our concern is focused on the crisis situation that leads to violent crime, murder, theft, arson, mass killings etc. In such cases the police are expected to act fast and swiftly in response. The entire manner in which the police react can be seen under their professional experience and expertise. It is expected that the police should be excellent crisis managers.

In the case of the Nigeria Police, it is a common norm to see the military almost everywhere even when the situation has not escalated to the point of what could be describe as a national emergency or state of emergency, where the military is known to be kept on high alert. Even the Police Mobile Force that are meant to serve as special reserve, are a common sight to behold in ‘minor’ crisis situation. This is why Hill (2011, 53) comment that though the PMF keep a low profile, but it is sometimes suggested that the populace regard them as the real police. They are popularly thought to be more agile, alert, serious, colourful, and attractive to the public.

Now, to our findings and appraisal of the police performance, it is indicative from all the parameters of measurement used that the police actually are performing below par in their responsibility as crisis managers. We have tried to analyse some of the factors as parameters to determine whether it influences the capacity of the police when it comes to crisis situation (See Table 1 for the proceeding statements).

Table 1: Response on the Performance of the Police on Behavioral Conduct and Availability of Equipment in Crisis Management

S/N	STATEMENT (PERFORMANCE BASE ON BEHAVIORAL CONDUCT)	RESPONSE
		YES	%	NO	%
1.	Police officers are psychologically and mentally prepared to handle the sudden outbreak of any crisis	65	81.25	15	18.75
2.	Lack of proper management of information made available to the police by the public and other intelligence report is responsible for several crisis	57	71.25	23	28.75
3.	The police always shows empathy and diplomatic approach in handling crisis	16	30	64	80
4.	The police always exhibit a high sense of professionalism in their conduct in any crisis situation	34	42.5	46	57.5
5.	The police are lackadaisical and sluggish in response to emergency and SOS calls	60	75	20	25
	TOTAL	232	58	168	42
S/N	STATEMENT (PERFORMANCE BASE ON AVAILABILITY OF EQUIPMENTS)	RESPONSE
		YES	%	NO	%
1.	The police always have superior weapons compared to the criminals or lawless citizens	35	43.75	45	56.25
2.	The police have readily available transport carriers in readiness to any emergency call	11	13.75	69	86.25
3.	The police often use crowd control equipment such as barbwires, teargas, hot water jets, crowd control barriers, kits etc. in times of crisis control	15	18.75	65	81.25
4.	The police have good communication gadgets on the field and in the police stations	12	15	68	85
5.	The injured and the dead are properly attended to in any crisis situation	70	87.5	10	12.5
	TOTAL	143	35.75	257	64.25

First is the behavioral factor which is very significant, to the way and manner the officers effectively handle a situation. From our responses, it is obvious that lack of psychological and mental preparedness is lacking in some of the officers of the force. Some of the responders who are officers themselves admit, probably reluctantly, that adequate mental preparation is needed before the police can handle any crisis. A good mental preparedness entails occasional orientation and mental fitness test for every officer. Align with this is the issue of empathy and diplomacy in approach another critical factor in handling crisis. Sometimes a situation is allowed to go out of hand because of improper communication between a suspect and group of suspects with the police officer. A group of people protesting or demonstrating over something could easily be convince to disperse in peace or to continue in a peaceful manner by the police. However, lack of proper approach when handling a group of protesters can degenerate from a peaceful protest to a violent one. Our result indicate that majority of the responders think that the police do not often show empathy and diplomacy in handling crisis.

This brought to bear the issue of professionalism, several reports by local and international organization have accused the Nigeria Police of being brutal and guilty of abusing the rights of her citizens (for instance see Human Rights Watch, 2010). This lack of professionalism sometimes is being exhibited in crisis situation where the police have been accused of extra-judicial killings in several instances and shooting indiscriminately. Also, the police have been considered too slow to react to emergency calls despite being contacted on the possible outbreak of violence. Most of the times, the police always appear when it is rather too late, when properties have destroyed and lives have been loss. It is that same indication which is gotten also from this research, that the response of the police is rather slow and many times it is lackadaisical.

Results of findings from the other segment is a clear indication that the public also see the importance of the police to be fully equipped when responding to a crisis situation. There are instances where the police swiftly respond to a crisis situation especially a wide scale robbery or mob violence and attack; but instead of readily dealing with the situation before it snowballs, the police often took to their heels or make a U-turn without doing anything. The only explanation that could be given to such a situation, is that, at the moment when the police were involved, they are not fully equipped and prepared to handle the situation.

The police in Nigeria have several times turn back because of superior fire power from the criminal elements, the police have turn back severally because the mob is too much for the police to handle and waving or throwing dangerous weapons, the police have been forced to flee because they do not have the protective gears and shields that would make them advance against a raging crowd. Many times, crowd of protesters are allowed to go haywire and out of control because the police do not have the equipment to draw the line between the protesters and places they are not allowed to exceed with their protest. Rather, the Nigeria Police Force are known to be quick in using teargas and quick to shoot at protesting crowd without trying to manage the situation as effective and strategic as it is supposed to be.

Sometimes it often becomes too late for the police to handle a crisis situation because of their lack of mobility or transport. The police in Nigeria are known to have a very common problem in almost all the states of the federation, which is lack of vehicles for security patrol and standby for response in terms of crisis or other emergencies. It is a familiar scenario to hear the police refusing to respond to an emergency calls because there is no vehicle available, there is no fuel in the vehicle etc. Such lame excuses had jeopardise the lives of many communities who are thrown into mourning and grief because the police have failed to act. It is not strange to see that in a police station only a single rifle can be found, where it is located in community that more five thousand people reside.

The second segment of the research brings to light not only the inability of the police but also is an indication that the state has not been proactive and considerate, not only to the plight of the citizens who the police are meant to protect, but to the police themselves. It is rather sad that the police who put their lives at risk to confront security threats are made to face such challenges without being properly equipped. Imagine a scenario where armed robbers are carrying out an operation in a neighborhood and these men are armed with highly sophisticated weapons, but the police who are supposed to confront these robbers are few in number and armed only with one AK 47 rifle. When confronted, the police will surely flee because they lack the capacity to handle the situation.

Lastly, it is not a surprising thing to see the police being rated the least among the popular known group that handle crisis in the country. Since 1960s when Nigeria was becoming politically active after independence and the various political parties were emerging, political crisis has often been an issue that brings about the intervention of the military. The Kano riots of 1953 was successfully quelled with the intervention of the military and after the establishment of the Police Mobile Force in 1962, they have become regular features in many crisis situations in the country.

The involvement of the military and mobile police is so much that several regimes and state governments have established Joint Task Forces involving the military and the mobile police who have become regulars in crime control. The regular duty policemen are now relegated to the background, active only in Police Stations and on minor roads collecting bribes and harassing the ordinary citizen. They have failed majorly in their duties to curb criminal activities even within their immediate environment.

Our result returns positive of this view, where the responders that rated the three groups rated the Nigeria Police Force the least in performance when it comes to crisis control and management (See Table 2). Though no reason has been sought as to why the responders gave their scores, but for anyone familiar with the security in Nigeria, it is a common knowledge that the military are more respected and dreaded than the police. Like the military, the mobile police too are sometimes dreaded more than the military, are known for their brutal approach in dealing with situations which placed them on an almost high ranking with the military. As for the police, they are dreaded not for their commitment to serve, but for their corrupt manners and ability to frame-up a false accusation against the people they are meant to serve and protect.

Table 2: Scores/Rating of 30 Respondents on the Performance of Selected Security Institution

RESPONDENT	TYPE OF SECURITY INSTITUTION OR UNIT
	POLICE (REGULAR DUTY OFFICERS)	POLICE MOBILE FORCE (MOPOL)	MILITARY
	X1 (%)	X2 (%)	X3 (%)
A	50	60	80
B	60	40	75
C	70	35	45
D	55	50	50
E	30	70	60
F	45	37	50
G	80	45	70
H	35	80	90
I	25	75	35
J	40	90	75
TOTAL	490	582	630
MEAN SCORE	49%	58%	63%

Conclusion

From the foregoing, we have tried to appraise the performance of the police in crisis situation. There is no argument that the need to have a police force that will perform excellently in terms of any crisis outbreak is of paramount importance. Nigeria as a country has been bedeviled by lots of security challenges which has put a heavy toll and the security agencies and the citizens as well. This research was aimed at seeing how effective the performance of the Nigeria Police has been in terms of managing crisis.

Looking at Kano metropolis as our case study, we discover that the complexities of the city which is entwined with her political and religious importance has made security a very vital aspect. Kano has witnessed a lot of crisis varying from political, religious, ethnic and social which has made the city to be a good case of study. Being the one of the largest and populous cities in the country the securitisation of the city has always been a great hurdle to cross.

Our findings reveal that the police have not been living up to their expectation in the city in terms of crisis management as some parameters used in this research indicated. Though the performance of the police could be said to be fair based on the findings, but the performance of the police compared to the military and the Police Mobile Force is slightly above average. The military and the mobile force have been rated higher than the police. The Police Mobile Force have been isolated from the police from this research because they are created as a special squad and our focus is on the first responders to any crisis, which is the regular duty and patrol police officers.

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