Nigeria Police Force Official Website

I have the pleasure of presenting the Annual Report for 2008, which has been an

extremely demanding year. I have been impressed by the professionalism and

dedication of all my police officers and thankful/appreciative for the support of the

Government of President Umaru Musa Yar’adua, the public and our partners. This

Annual Report describes our achievements in 2008 and affords me with the

opportunity to let you know what the Nigeria Police NPF (NPF) is undertaking to

make our great country even safer. It also helps us to reflect on our performance

and the extent to which we have achieved the objectives of my 9-way Test. In

keeping with our avowed 9-way Test promises, we are presenting a report that is

transparent and accountable to the people of Nigeria.

Although 2008 has been a challenge for the NPF, including financial difficulties, our

men and women have managed to achieve great results in fighting crime. The

current economic pressures mean that the forthcoming year will be equally testing,

requiring difficult decisions to be made. However, I am confident that the NPF will

‘grasp the nettle’ to ensure it returns to a sound financial, material and operational

footing.

The NPF has evolved over time, in tandem with different phases of our national

environment. Our operational attitudes and sensitivity to the public have been

dictated by factors beyond professional ethics and principles. At different times, we

have employed diverse methods to confront varying degrees of challenges to internal

security, with consequential impacts on the NPF as well as the general public. We

have “returned fire for fire”, “served and protected with integrity”, and prior to

these, we employed different diverse tactics to solve the security problems that

faced our societies at that time.

Obviously, crime has a major impact on our peoples’ lives and this is why I am

delighted that, despite all our challenges, the NPF achieved substantial reductions in

key problem areas.

Although there was a small decrease of 4% in overall recorded crime during the

year, I am pleased to report that there were major reductions in key areas, such as

36.8% in offences against Local Acts and 18.8% in offences against Lawful

Authority. We have achieved all these due to a highly motivated, skilled and

effective workforce, supported by effective leadership in all ranks.

The NPF has also truly established itself as a high-performing force, with a global

reputation for peace-keeping operations. Our reputation in the international arena

informed the visit of senior officers of the Sudanese Police Force, who came to

understudy our national efforts at implementing the philosophy and practices of

Community Policing.

Serving the Nigerian people by supporting the realization of the President’s 7-point

agenda is a key priority for us. The ongoing and impending reforms instigated by

the Presidential Committee on Police Reforms have buttressed this priority and will

facilitate the management of fundamental issues affecting the NPF.

The achievements of NPF in 2008 are highlighted in this Annual Report – we will

continue to build on them to provide the best service possible for the people of

Nigeria by doing what we do best, “creating a safer and more secured

environment, conducive for socio-economic development.”

Sir Mike Mbama Okiro, CFR, NPM, mni