Nigerian police is corrupt, EFCC is not sincere – US report

The United States has indicted both the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, saying that corruption in the institutions remained very rampant. A recent report on Human Rights Practices compiled by the United States Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, said that the Nigerian Police corruption remained rampant, particularly at highway checkpoints. “Police routinely stopped drivers who did not commit traffic infractions, refusing to allow them to continue until they paid bribes. The Office of the Inspector General of Police attempted to strengthen the Police Monitoring Unit, which was charged with visiting police stations to search officers for signs of accepting bribes; however, the unit remained ineffective and made no arrests by year’s end.” “Authorities generally did not hold police accountable for the use of excessive or deadly force or for the deaths of persons in custody. Police generally operated with impunity in the illegal apprehension, detention, and sometimes execution of criminal suspects. The reports of state or federal panels of inquiry investigating suspicious deaths remained unpublished. Citizens could report incidents of police corruption to the NHRC; however, the NHRC did not act on such complaints during the year, and no other mechanism existed to investigate security force abuse.”