Still On State Police

At a recent meeting, Northern Governors and traditional rulers added impetus to the clamour for state Police thus reaffirming the position of this newspaper as presented in an earlier editorial. We represent it to align ourselves with the argument of the Northern stakeholders.

There have been calls for state police over the years, following the widespread insecurity in the country. Somehow the federal government has resisted attempts to be drawn into the debate. The President at a point also rejected the idea, saying it was not an option for the nation.

However, in August 2020, President Muhammadu Buhari approved N13.3billion for the commencement of community policing as part of measures to consolidate efforts aimed at enhancing security nationwide. But with the rising insecurity in the country, it’s obvious that measure is not working. Or at least not as effectively as anticipated.

It is against this backdrop that, former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who had also rejected the clamour for state police in the past, said its establishment would be a better option than community policing. He said the worsening insecurity has gone beyond what community policing could combat.

For a long time now, Nigerians sleep with one eye open, with the constant fear of the unknown. As the scourge of insecurity rises across the country, the cry for solutions gets louder and louder. Experts, stakeholders, including renowned columnists have resurrected the call. The advocacy is coming from various quarters, including those in a position to analyze the situation

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Regardless, the call, recently gained ascendancy and for good reasons. First, the spate of killings, kidnappings and attacks across the country, especially in the North and South East have armed so well those clamoring for the institution of that arm of security apparatus. Nigerians are daily inundated with the sad news of deaths, destruction and losses. And this is taking a great toll on the economy, growth and development.

Second, all over world, state police system is the standard in democracies. Nigeria’s democracy is modelled after that of the United States, yet in practice, the country’s system is shy of the fine points of that bastion of democracy. Federalism, by definition, is a decentralised system, with the federating units working out systems that serve them best especially on matters of security. To a reasonable extent state governors, in the Nigerian context are kings in their own ways. They control land, property, budgets, courts and appointments. Yet, security that should undergird their operations is controlled from the centre in Abuja. Very absurd, in our opinion.

The culprit of this anomaly is Section 214 of the Nigerian Constitution. When interpreted it means that there can only be one Nigerian Police Force, at the federal level. The Inspector General of Police (IGP) heads that Police Force. And that IGP is accountable only to one person, the Commander-in-Chief and President. And this brings us back to the issue of constitution amendment.

But for politics, the decentralisation of the police shouldn’t be an issue at all in a country with so large a population as Nigeria. From recent happenings, a centralised Police Force with a population of over 200 million spread over 36 states, a federal capital territory, and 774 local government areas, cannot effectively tackle crimes and other forms of insecurity.

Third, policing is a local function, and it is imperative that police officers and men are familiar with their environment, and understand the language and culture of the people. It is now obvious that the policy of moving police personnel across ethnic, linguistic, and religious boundaries, as is currently the case, is counterproductive. Again, there is the fear that state police will be abused by the political class. But the real problem is not so much with the politicians as with the corrupt political system and police establishment. Professional capacity building and concerted ethical reorientation of the police force will be needed to ensure best practices. However, such reorientation should be backed up with an upward review of their remuneration, which leads to the second fear expressed by opponents of state police.

It is the fear of inadequate financial capacity of state governments to manage state police system. Most of these states are already cash-strapped and may not be able to adequately fund state police. But come to think of it, a good number of the states have a huge investment in the police, even while under the federal system through purchase of patrol vehicles and security equipment. With their security vote, this shouldn’t be an issue really.

We call on the National Assembly and State Houses of Assembly to do the needful by revisiting the issue of state police, so that the nation can have an effective police system. It is high time we consolidated local policing by decentralising the force and absorbing qualified personnel from existing local and state security formations – vigilante, local hunters and all.