Section 214
of the 1999 constitution establish
Nigerian Police Force. Sub (1)
of the
section states that “there shall
be a Police Force for Nigeria,
which shall be known as the Nigeria police force, and subject to the provisions
of this section no other Police Force shall be established for the l
federation or any part thereof.
Provision of the powers of Nigeria Police Force was
capsulated in section 23 of the police Act, so their roles as an fighting
crime in Negara according the section
23 of
the Act are:
1.
Power to
arrest and offender(s)
2.
Power to prevent commission of an offence
3.
Power to
dictate crime
4.
Power to investigate matters
5.
Power to search
etc
The
power to arrest confirmed on the
police has been so important and cannot be
deal without as long as Police
Force is concerned. In case of A Thief who was among the gang of
robber that entered into a premises by force, and the police where
informed, the rushed immediately to
compound and after the exchange of gun
shot all of them escaped remaining the plaintiff who was arrested by police.
Therefore police force having so much
power given to them by the Police Act should be monitored either
by legislative control of judicial control otherwise they will
ultra-virus the power, knowing fully
well that power corrupt, absolute power corrupt
absolutely. Also having be so essential to the society they should be
well equipped in terms of all it take to carryout their function very well and
effectively.