Monday, July 9, 2018

Vox pop
MONDAY, JULY 9, 2018
3
Will creation of state police improve security?
•Sunday Ehindero (Ex- Inspector-
General of Police, Federal Republic of
Nigeria)
We are not ripe for state police. We saw
in the First and Second Republic how
the police were used by political opponents
and it was an instrument of terror at that
time. Moreover, state police cannot deal
with the challenge of terrorism. Imagine
terrorism in a state; it needs federal force
to deal with it. If you look at what we have
now, we have policemen in every state; the
governors have some control over the police.
Look at Lagos State; is the governor not in
control? The governors have control, but
Absolutely! The answer is clear. The
state police issue is a small conceptual
issue in the larger discussion of devolution
of power and restructuring. What it means
is that in any management system, if you
concentrate power in the hands of one
person and you ignore the component parts,
there is bound to be inefficiency. So, when
you have a President of Nigeria sitting in
Abuja and controlling the entire criminal
justice system of Nigeria, it is simply
impossible for him to cope. It doesn’t matter
if it is Buhari. It could be any President.
You cannot effectively check human
behaviour with an Inspector-General of
Police sitting in Abuja. It is not possible.
The standard procedure is that policing
is devolved along three areas: federal,
state and local government. That is what
happens in the United States and the United
Kingdom. So, state police is important
to make powers available to the federal
policing authority and also the states so that
you can effectively tackle crime, terrorism
and whatever misdemeanor. It would also
empower the governors to run their states
more effectively.
However, I will not advocate picking state
police out of the whole number of matters
that can be devolved from the federation.
If you are talking about state police, it
means those who accept it must also accept
a major devolution of powers to the states.
When you devolve power to the states, the
problem of revenue generation and payment
•Hector Ehiguina (Benin-based legal
practitioner)
they are saying the Inspector-General of
Police should not be the one giving orders
to state Commissioners of Police. But the
constitution has made it that the governor
can give orders to the CP. But if the CP feels
the order is not in the interest of justice or
rule of law, he could ask the governor to
revert the order to the IG or the President.
We have not looked at the issue of boundary
disputes between states. Take for instance, if
Osun and Ondos states have state police and
they have boundary problem, of course, each
would use its own police to justify its position
and that is not in the interest of justice. I think
we are not ripe really. When I heard Deputy
Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, saying it
is only in Nigeria that we have police in this
form, I want to say that there is nowhere the
federation has evolved as we have evolved.
The police can only be effective when there
is developed rapport between the Force and
the community to the extent that they can
give information on their own to the police.
Also, something has to be done about the
funding of the police. The Police Trust Fund
they are talking about should be effective; the
police shouldn’t go cap in hand begging for
funds; no it shouldn’t be. There should be a
demarcation between the duties of the police
and that of the military. Internal security
should be the responsibility of the police and
they must be put in a situation where they can
perform their duty.
• Dr Olisa Agbakoba, SAN,
(Ex-President, Nigerian Bar Association)
of policemen would be made possible. The
fear of governors misusing the police is the
same you can direct at the federal police.
After all, all Nigerian Presidents since 1999
have abused the federal police.
So, that is not an excuse to reject state
police. The same way we must ensure
that the President does not misuse the
state police is the same way we ensure
that governors do not misuse state police.
All we need to do is to look at successful
models.
do not think that Nigeria, as a country,
I has developed economically to have state
police, when you take into consideration
our political structure. When we get to a
certain stage in our economic development,
then we can say that we have got to the
point of having state police.
Recently, some policemen in Bornu State
complained about non-payment of their
allowances. If we decide to have police
funded by state governments, funding will
be an issue.
We have states that have not paid their
workers for 19 months. So, imagine adding
state police to that.
I think the Nigeria police have the
capacity to quell any violence perpetrated
in any part of the country. The IG knows
what to do in the event of violence.
have been one of the advocates of state
I police for a long time. It is good that the
National Assembly has now got on the matter
to ensure that they give the enabling law
speedy passage. The creation of state police
is going to improve our security because the
governors of states have been called the chief
security officers, which has just been a name
without the power for them to carry out the
responsibility.
The challenge I hear the people talk
about, which is that the state police can be
an instrument of oppression, to me is not
sufficient enough to kill the idea.
Look, there is no way it can be made a tool
for oppressing the opposition. How many
Nigerians presently have been taking the
police to court? If anyone thinks his rights
have been infringed on by the state police,
he or she has the right to go to court and take
civil action.
Also, people talk about the 2019 elections
and the dangers of having the state police.
I want to say that we conduct elections just
once in four years, but we deal with insecurity
every day.
Security will no doubt improve when we
have the state police. With state police, the
recruitment will generally come from the
locals who know the terrain.
They will not work as if they are excluded
believe the creation of state police will
I improve the security of each state in
Nigeria. The state police, just like in many
developed countries, will complement the
federal police. The state police will be more
at home with the indigenes of the state.
Obviously, if you are going to train policemen
to keep Offa safe, we are going to look for
people who know the Offa terrain and who
will be part of the security outfit as it does
happen in developed countries such as the
United States. You have the federal, state
and even county police. The counties have
their different law enforcement agents also.
I believe that we are overdue for state
police. It is really going to cut down the
violence that we are experiencing.
There should be a collaboration of
all stakeholders to address the current
insecurity in some parts of the country.
Even communities should play their role
in ensuring their safety. Just like in Offa,
we have commenced the construction of
mobile police barracks. The project is being
funded by Offa indigenes and friends.
On completion, the first phase of the
project, which consists of about 15 blocks
M
y views on state police have been
constant. It is an essential part of the
restructuring we have been advocating. State
• Senator Femi Okurounmu (Ex-
Chairman, Presidential Advisory Committee
on National Conference)
•Mike Ejiofor (Ex-Director, Department
of State Services)
from the Nigeria Police Force. They will work
in synergy with the federal police.
If we don’t have structures like the
state police on the ground, it may even be
horrible for the security situation during
elections. I think the National Assembly
should go on with the passage of state
police into law.
•Dr Funso Oladipo (Chairman, Offa
Security Trust Fund)
of two bedrooms with a total of 120 flats,
will accommodate a reasonable number
of riot police personnel. There will also be
administrative blocks and other facilities.
That is the type of collaboration and synergy
that will improve security.
police is one of the most crucial aspects of
restructuring because without state police,
you cannot call the governors the chief
security officers of their states. There is no
way you can call a governor the chief security
officer of a state when he has no control over
the police.
He cannot even enforce the laws of the
state house of assembly. If it is the wish of
the President that laws passed by the state
assembly should be disobeyed, the President
can ask the police not to enforce the law and
there is nothing the governor can do. So,
state police is very essential for the proper
maintenance of law and order in the country.
It also prevents dictatorship at the centre
because if you have the police being controlled
by just one man, then he can misuse it and
there is nothing anybody can do. In fact,
that is what is happening right now. The
Fulani herdsmen are killing people right,
left and centre; they are not being arrested
or prosecuted because the Inspector-General
of Police has decided to look the other way.
So, there is nothing anyone can do.
Compiled by: Success Nwogu, Adelani Adepegba, Eniola Akinkuotu,
Olaleye Aluko and Alexander Okere