Senior Lawyers Divided Over State Police

Some senior lawyers in the country are divided over the creation of state police, saying having state police in the country has its pros and cons.

To some of them, it would be abused by state governors and highly placed politicians, who would see it as a tool to oppress the oppossition and intimidate anyone against their policies and directives.

But to others, the country is ripe for it, given the level of insecurity around us.

They argued that the country’s security has deteriorated to the extent that no one is safe, even VIPs.

They are argued that if the law needs to be amended for the creation of state police, it should be done fast to secure lives and property of Nigerians.

A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr Abdul Balogun, said whole idea of creating state police should not be discarded.

To him, even, the Nigeria Police as presently constituted is being used to harass and intimidate political opponents by those in authority.

He said, “It is often argued that if state police is allowed, state governors would use them against their political opponents, to me, this argument does not hold water.

“A former Nigerian president said state police could be used by state governors in persecuting perceived political opponents, but it is also true that the federal government is using the Nigeria Police Force to persecute perceived political opponents, undermining the NASS and obstructing free speech.

“It does not mean that the whole idea should be discarded. The fact that there were instances where the federal government had used the police force against its perceived political opponents does not entirely discredit the idea of having state police.

“Going by the 1999 Constitution, state governors are known as the chief security officers of their states but in actual practice, they have no control over the security apparatus in their states. Commissioners of police are appointed in Abuja by the Inspector- General of Police and are mainly answerable to the one that appoints them.”

Barrister Marcus U. Eji said Nigeria has the capacity to maintain state and federal police.

He said both combined would strengthen the security of the country and the policing.

He said Nigerians were looking forward to any form of arrangement that would guarantee their security.

He said, “The security situation in the country now demands urgent attention. Whatever will guarantee the security of lives and property of Nigerians is welcome at this point.

“Now, the security situation has worsened as all that we now hear in the media are killings and kidnappings, banditry. This is unfortunate!”

Constitutional lawyer, Habeeb, Jimoh, described the situation as unacceptable, adding that no day goes without one innocent Nigerian being kidnapped or killed.

He said the 1999 Constitution needs to be amended to allow for state police.

According to him, there should be constitutional amendment for the creation of state police because the 1999 Constitution does not give room for it.

“I think it is time for policymakers in the country to consider it,” he said

“A former governor in the North-west states once called on Nigerians to defend themselves. Also, General T. Y. Danjuma (rtd) said same. Obviously, the situation is now hopeless because if it is not, how come those in charge of affairs of the country are now calling on Nigerians to defend themselves.

“It is a demonstration of frustration and total failure of the Nigeria Police Force as presently constituted to protect the lives and property of Nigerians.

“Presently, the strength of the police in the country is 350,000, which is inadequate to secure a population of 200 million Nigerians! Those in authority need to think about the interest and security of Nigerians first above anything else and strengthen the Nigeria police by allowing the creation of state police,” he said.

Barrister H. Paul Abulu, an Abuja-based human rights lawyer, said there is no magic that could be guarantee security in the country if state police is not established.

According to him, creating state police will complement the efforts of the Nigeria Police Force.

In the past, governments had downplayed this very  important issue on frivolous excuses, he noted.

He condemned the stand of late former president Muhammadu Buhari, on the issue.

He quoted Buhari to have said, “State police is not an option,” as a direct solution to the security challenges confronting the country.

He said Nigerians should seriously be concerned with the management of the relationship between the state and local governments than the incompetence of the federal police.

But Professor of Law, Eric Adagbata, called for caution and warned against creation of state police.

According to him, creating state police is considered dangerous because it will definitely be abused just as the federal police.

He said it is a risk to allow the governors have access to heavily armed state security forces as it would be used to  suppress the opposition, rig elections, and silence critics.

“I agree that the country needs to fortify its security apparatus to meet the challenges of the present security situation but at the same time, we need to be careful because having state police now may further add to the problems we are trying to solve.

“I’ll like to say that instead of having state police, we should rather strengthen the federal police, equip them and further train them to confront the challenges we are facing as a nation.”

Constitutional, lawyer, Igene A. Amos, also warned against creation of state police. He said more than half of the states in the country struggle to meet  their financial obligations to their workers. He said adding more to the scarce resources in the states may spell doom for the economy of states.

He said many states struggle to pay the salaries of civil servants monthly and adding to the wage bill may be another problem.

“Apart from the wage bill, funding, equipping, and sustaining state police force could prove financially unsustainable for many poor states, which may further lead to increased corruption and extortion of citizens,” he said.

Human Rights lawyer, Khaleel Audi, said the police have failed in their constitutional role of protecting Nigerians and if the situation does not improve, the citizens would be left with no option but to arm themselves for self defence.

He said the police as presently constituted are overwhelmed, adding that they should own up if the federal government cannot not meet its equipment needs.

He said the mass killings, kidnappings and other serious security failures around the country had shown that a central police command was ineffective to keep Nigerians safe.