Retired Commissioner of Police and Security expert, Emmanuel Ojukwu, has suggested that the Nigerian Police Force should be scrapped and rebuilt from the ground up, citing decades of structural failure, poor training, and institutional neglect as his reason.

Speaking on “Frontline”, a current affairs programme on Eagle 102.5 FM, Ilese Ijebu, monitored by Friday Telegraph, Ojukwu argued that the current formation of the police did not start with the right philosophy or training, making it incapable of addressing the nation’s rising internal security challenges.

“To correct the imbalance in the police, we have to begin afresh,” he declared.

According to him, the police, as constitutionally mandated to lead internal security, has been relegated to the background while the military now operates as the primary force for law enforcement.

“The police have been bleeding but not showing the pain. It was victimised into taking a back bench,” he lamented.

To get the Force out of the woods it has been dragged, Ojukwu recommended the immediate establishment of state policing outfits, improved funding, and a mobile, intelligence-driven police force capable of timely response.

He stressed that every criminal leaves behind a trace, adding, “It is not too late to apprehend these criminals if we have a functional police system.”

He further called for a justice system devoid of political bias and corruption, advocating the removal of immunity clauses that shield public officials from prosecution. “Nigeria must begin to value life nationally. We should remove immunity for impunity. Offenders should be jailed,” he said.

The former police chief concluded with a call for a complete rethink of Nigeria’s approach to law and order, insisting that without radical reforms, the country would remain in a cycle of insecurity and injustice.