SECURITY MANAGEMENT AND PRISON BREAK IN NIGERIA: A REVIEW OF 2015-2023

Abstract

The paper examined prison break syndrome and security management in Nigeria's Fourth Republic. The paper adopted the historical method of data collection. The study showed that prison break is a product of the general state of insecurity in the country aided by leadership ineptitude, poor security management system in terms of poor attitude of security personnel, poor training, lack of professionalism and patriotism, ethnic sentiment, divisive tendencies, corruption, the militarization of the democratic space, lack of transparency, and the seeming capture of the political space by private interest to the detriment of public interest. Based on the foregoing, the researchers recommended the following: a total overhaul and re-training of security forces in modern technologies for combat readiness, especially the police force which lacks modern crime-fighting equipment, collective security strategies in security management which has a holistic and all-hazards approach in planning and operations to be introduced and effectively implemented, security management strategy based on complex interdependence as a balance of power approach to accommodate the various interests of diverse ethnic-geo-political groups that make–up Nigeria. It further recommended that the government should ensure proper funding, ensure the lives of security personnel and equip these security agencies to enhance their performance and combat readiness in the face of rising security challenges in Nigeria. We equally submit that the Nigerian Police Command structure be de-centralized for prompt response to emergencies at state and local levels, as well as the introduction of effective community policing and public-private partnership security management approach for grassroots crime combat.