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PRIVATE
SECURITY COMPANIES AND CRIME PREVENTION
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Human history
has always been punctuated with societal concern for security at both the
individual and collective levels. This has particularly been the case because
security affects people’s livelihood. The privatization of security has now
become a global phenomenon (Hyden, 1995). This is the result of a number of
factors including general human insecurity, the globalization phenomenon, the
privatization of public enterprises, the professionalization of armed and
police forces, drive for profit maximization, liberalization of the arms trade,
general unending African conflict and the crashing of the twin towers and the
pentagon on the 11th of September, 2001 in United States (Holmqvist, 2005). In
the contemporary world, the privatization of security has spread throughout the
world to an unprecedented level that it is no longer possible to ignore, let
alone comprehend (Howe, 1998).
The many
types of modern private security outfits available today may be traced to Allan
Pinkerton, who founded Pinkerton’s security services in 1850 with the motto “we
never sleep” (Schmalleger, 1995). It was also the largest of the private firms
headquartered in New York. The Pinkerton Service had a logo which was an open
eye, to signify constant vigilance on its office doors. The term “private eye”
is thought to have developed from the use of this logo. In another development,
Schmalleger (1995) affirmed that Henry Wells and William Fargo built their
popularly known Wells Fargo company in 1852 and supplied detective and
protective services (private guard and investigator) to areas of West of
Missouri.
Thus, much
has changed since the early days of private security firms (private policing).
Today, services are provided for hospitals, manufacturing plants, communication
industries, retirement homes, hotels, casinos, exclusive communities and clubs.
Others are nuclear storage facilities and reactors, and many other types of
businesses such as information security that aid the protection of personnel.
Following a
history of private guards and security practice in Nigeria which could be
traced to royalty, religion, social class or pedigree; the practice of private
security gradually attracted a deserved attention when it became commercialized
and obviously conflicted with the social contract idea which states that only
the state is capable of arrest and punishment (Kuna, 1999). Thus, it became
imperative that the practice had to be regulated within the confines of duty,
definition and laws. For instance, security in the traditional Nigerian society
squarely lay with the immediate and extended families; hence any member of the
family that violates any of the norms was in danger of being ostracized by the
group until reparations and necessary purification and cleansing rituals were
undertaken by the family (Igbo, 2007).
Thus,
changes have taken place from the traditional Nigerian societies to the present
as a result of ‘modernisation’. These changes occasioned the encroachment of
western institutions on moral standards of the society which has implications
for general life and security particularly on Nigerians. Other factors include
urbanization, formal education and capitalist economic system. As a result a
range of crimes emanated quite different from what was known in the traditional
society, which may require more sophisticated security approach. Some of these
crimes include murder, theft, assault, and suicide, pick pocketing, drug abuse,
counterfeiting, fraud, forgery, smuggling, unlawful possession of dangerous
weapons, prostitution, white- collar crime, advanced fee fraud (419)
corruption, rape, and a host of others which are all prevalent in modern
Nigeria(Ebbe, 1981 cited in Igbo, 2007).
Thus, Ochefu
and Idrees (2002), posited that, the Nupes and Gwagyis who are predominant
groups in Niger state with migrant Hausas’ prevent crimes through proper
socialization of the young ones i.e application of communal approach to
socialization, instilling of the fear of pain in punishment...later, other
prevention measures include the organization of the Dogarai (local police), the
Ninety (90) days cleansing fast as reparation; Others include the use of
scarecrows, charms and fetish materials and the use of Ndakogboya or Kuti
(Masquerade) popularly known among the Nupes.
Also,
according to Igbo (2007), the end of the civil war witnessed not only the
return of old criminals to the street; but also the ‘graduation’ of new and
more sophisticated ones’. This singular assertion indicates that the current
state of security network in the country may be under serious threat as crime
waves continue to rise unabated.
The most
recent of the threats to security in Nigeria is the emergence of kidnapping and
terrorism which have been enhanced by the widespread use of firearms by
criminals. This indeed facilitated the modus operandi of these criminals,
thereby enhancing complete change in criminal activities as cases of aircraft
hijacking and assassinations of prominent Nigerians and bomb explosions in
various corners of the country became rampant.
In addition
to earlier mentioned criminal activities, today law and order also pose serious
security
challenges in the country. According to Sunday Ehindaro, the former Inspector
General
of Police,
“perhaps the most potent threat to national security of any country is crime”
(Dambazau,
2007: 152). This statement is also in line with the report of the Economic
Intelligence
Unit (EIU) in a survey called “RISKWIRE” which concluded that,
Nigeria is
an insecure environment for commercial operations. Security risk arises at
three levels. The first comes from rising violent crime (from) simple armed
robbery (to) carjacking and violent attacks....Second, companies can be
subjected to direct attack or blackmail...facilities can be vandalized and
staff kidnapped. Third, incidences of inter-communal violence have risen.
Nigeria’s ill equipped police force . has been ineffective in stemming the
crime wave. (Dambazau, 2007: 53).
Therefore,
the ineffectiveness of the Nigeria police and the concern of Nigerians for
security led to the emergence of guards and private security companies in the country
to augment the activities of the security agencies and work in line with the
laid down rules and regulations. Just like the vigilante, private security
companies are also an informal arrangement to keep with the pace of rising
crime rate in Nigeria.
However, as
is the case in all countries, the citizens of Nigeria are highly concerned
about their security and this concern has been expressed through the growth of
Private Security Companies (PSCs). The last decade has seen a proliferation of
PSCs in a country of about 140 million people (Census, 2006). The presence of
these companies is conspicuous in the premises of both private and public
sector organizations. This is in spite of the fact that in both urban and rural
areas, security matters are largely in the hands of private actors than in
those of the state. Thus, the function of private security companies was
handled by the Nigeria immigration service in the Federal Ministry of Interior.
Until 1st September, 2005 when the then Minister of Internal Affairs handed
over all documents of private guard companies to the Nigeria Security and Civil
Defense Corps (NSCDC, 2009).
There are
two principal landmarks in the regulation of PSCs in Nigeria. The first is the
enactment and approval for creation of PSCs on 15th December 1986. This law was
cited as Act No 43 and consolidated under the laws of the Federation of Nigeria
1990 in chapter 367. The second is the handover from the Nigeria immigration
service to Nigeria civil defense corps cited currently as chapter 30 in Private
Guard Companies (PGC) Act (Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004). This law
is specifically enacted for the “regulation and licensing of private guard
companies which must be wholly owned by Nigerians and other matters-ancillary
thereto” (PGCs Act, Cap367, 1990).
Finally, the
perception of ineffective policing and rising crime gave impetus to the
emergence of a plethora of non-state policing groups (Olaniyi, 2005). The state
has shared its security responsibility with a variety of non-political
organizations including vigilante groups, religious vigilante, ethnic militias
and private security guards.
Based on the
above and most especially considering its growing importance, the activities of
the PSCs necessarily became a subject of study. This has led the researcher to
the choice of private security companies and crime prevention in Nigeria with
Niger state as a case study.
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Law, order
and security were maintained in the pre-colonial societies through thorough
socialization of members of the society using peer group, age grade and
religious institutions (Ogunbameru and Rotimi, 2006). Thus, violators of
societal norms, customs, and traditions of various communal groups faced
serious sanctions which ranged from ostracizing, payment of reparation and
purification and consequently the performing of cleansing rituals (Igbo, 2007).
For instance in Niger state, criminals pay for their crimes through serving
various punishment such as digging of dungeons, working in the Emir’s farm,
quarrying, and in cases which involve witchcraft and murder, banishment or
ninety (90) days cleansing fast was observed as reparation (Idrees and Ochefu,
2002). The occurrence of these crimes was often at a lower rate because these sanctions
also helped in inducing fear into the people on the negative consequences of
committing crime in the society.
These roles
changed during the colonial era following the introduction of formal social
control. The Native Authority (NA) police assumed the role of maintaining law,
order and security, while the citizens simply became on-lookers because
community security was seen as the responsibility of the government. At this
point, insecurity also started growing due to the nature of native administration.
This is because Nationalist activities were seen and conceived of as an attack
on the colonialists (Kuna, 1999). Therefore, the brutality of the NA police
became instrumental to the growth of the nationalist movement at this time in
the society.
During the
post-colonial era, especially after the civil war in Nigeria, the activities of
criminals grew almost out of hand as a result of the proliferation of firearms
which were found in all nooks and crannies of the country. This hastened the
growth of crime on the one hand, and also brought about the need to further
secure the urban communities where robbery and the nefarious acts of criminals
were frequent. Therefore, urban areas like Lagos, Ibadan, Enugu, and Kano
started having neighborhood guards due to the inefficiency of the police
(Dambazau, 2007; Igbo, 2007)
In
describing insecurity in Nigerian urban cities, Osahon (1996 in Dogon-yaro,
1996) stated that:
Actually we
are under severe siege already as a people. Fear now rules our daily lives. Ugly,
harrowing fear of the known and unknown. When we go out in the mornings, we are
not sure we will return home safely and with our cars and other property
including even the shoes on our feet or the earring in our ears. If we are
lucky to arrive to find our homes unraided in our absence, we sleep with one
eye open expecting the worst any moment of the night. In other words, we do not
sleep any more. in our ability to perform daily activities (Dogon-yaro,
1996:224).
This
situation also existed in other growing cities in Niger state such as Minna,
Kontagora, Bida, Suleja, and a few other towns. The public response to
perpetual fear and insecurity was to take laws into its own hands. In July
1987, butchers, traders, and unemployed persons in Minna vented their wrath
over police harassment, intimidation, and extortion in a six- hour rampage
against police and soldiers that was quelled by military units (The library of
Congress Country Studies and CIA Factbook, 1991).
Again, in
May, 2009, two lecturers from School of Nursing Bida were bathed with acid in
their staff quarters by students suspected to have been withdrawn by the
institution for having failed in all their first semester examinations. It was
noted that the staff quarters lacked security guards unlike the school premises
and the culprits were not apprehended (Sunday Trust, May 17, 2009). However, in
July, 2009, Newline news paper reported that, the family of one Mr. James
Omeize, the proprietor of Brighter International School in Minna was kidnapped in
Minna and the kidnapper demanded 20 million naira for his release in far away
Benin City in Edo state.
Other
insecurity instances abound in the state as many cases are not even reported to
the police or captured by any vigilant watch dog. The Nigeria police has always
came under severe criticism; being accused of falling victims to every negative
unfavourable character, devoid of any measure commensurate to their oath of
office. In other words, this weakened capacity of the Nigeria Police to fight
crime (i.e shortage of staff, obsolete equipment, corruption, defective
training programmes, police discretion etc) has led to increase in other
policing agencies across the country over the years. It is due to the
importance attached to security of lives and property that both the
professional and non-professional security outfits came into existence in these
urban centres.
After about
two decades of the flourishing of private security industry in Niger State, it
appears PSCs have not received much scholarly attention in terms of the
services they provide. One wonders if the seeming increase in the number of
private security companies in Niger state is caused by the desire for improved
security or other ulterior motives. It is in the light of the above problems,
that this research work is aimed at examining the private security companies in
Niger state.
1.3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
The
following research questions are formulated to guide the study:- I. How were
the security needs of the people in Niger state provided during the traditional
era?
II. What factors necessitated the
establishment of PSCs?
III. How effective are these PSCs in
their security functions?
IV. What are their major constraints in
carrying out these functions?
V. What are the strategies for
overcoming these constraints in order
to make them more
efficient?
VI. What is the relationship between
PSCs and the Police?
1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
The general
objective of this research is to determine how effective private security
companies are in crime prevention in Niger state.
The
following are the specific objectives of the research;
I. To find
out how security needs of people in Niger state were provided during the
traditional era.
II. To determine the factors that
necessitated the establishment of PSCs
III. To assess the effectiveness of
these PSCs in their security functions
IV. To examine the major constraints of
the PSCs in carrying out their functions.
V. To identify the strategies for
overcoming their constraints for efficient service delivery.
VI. To examine the relationship between
PSCs and the Police
1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
This study
has both theoretical and practical significance.
(a) Theoretical significance: this study will
contribute to existing literature on PSCs/PSGs especially in the area of crime
prevention in Nigeria. The study will also provide the baseline information on
typologies of crime prevention in Niger state and stimulate research in the
field by other researchers and academicians. Moreover, the study will provide
reference document to other scholars who want to engage in studies of PSCs and
crime prevention.
(b) Practical significance: the findings of
this study will enhance the understanding of policy makers on strategies and
dynamics of crime prevention companies. This will lead to a design of
programmes that will enhance crime prevention and improve security of lives and
property in Niger state. This study is also significant for the fact that the
findings will assist in extending and deepening the understanding of policy
makers to improve crime prevention through the PSCs. This will reveal, if any,
the challenges of working with wide range of Private Security Companies and
provide suggestions on how the challenges identified can be overcome.
1.6 OPERATIONALISATION OF CONCEPTS
The
following terms are used in this research and are defined based on their usage
in this context. Beneficiaries: Refers to individuals, private and public
enterprises, ministries, agencies, directorates etc who subscribes to the
services of the PSCs.
Crime:
Refers to wrongdoing that threatens the security or well-being of society and
usually considered an act (evil) punishable by law.
Crime
Prevention: It refers to a pattern of attitudes and behaviours directed both at
reducing the threat of crime and enhancing the sense of safety and security to
positively influence the quality of life.. .and to develop environments where
crime cannot flourish
Formal
Security Sector: Refers to police and the army which the constitution of a
country formally recognizes for the defense, peace, total security and
integrity of the country.
National
Security: Refers to safeguarding the interest of the citizenry and providing
the type of atmosphere that is free of threats that could inhibit the pursuit
of the good of all. It is about the processes and measures required to preserve
law and order.
Private
Security: Refers to those self-employed individuals and privately funded
business entities and organizations providing security -related services to
specific clientele for a fee, for the individual or entity that retains or
employs them, for themselves, in order to protect their persons, private
property or interests from various hazards.
Private
Policing: This refers to the performance of policing functions by individuals
or agencies other than those directly owned and controlled by the state.
Security:
This means protection from physical or direct violence, and freedom from fear;
a sense of safety and relative wellbeing in political, legal, socio-economic
and cultural terms, it is also, a measure of protection from structural
violence and security of lives and properties as enshrined in the constitution
of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
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