By ADEGBITI ABAYOMI
State Police, which the 2014 National Conference convoked by the Goodluck Jonathan administration approved, appears desirable. It will address the rising incidence of crime and criminality at the state levels. It will involve the indigenes in policing their states as they will form the bulk of such Police. Criminals such as robbers and kidnappers, will be easily identifi ed and promptly sanctioned. Th ere is every likelihood that safety and security of lives and property will be guaranteed with a state Police in place.
Th ese are seemingly plausible reasons advanced by the proponents of the idea. Based on these and others, there seems to be a renewed vigour on the call, particularly championed by the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) of recent. State Police or provincial Police has been identifi ed as a sub national territorial Police Force, which exists in advanced nations such as UK and US. Th is Police, particularly in United States, have been charged with the responsibilities of ensuring safety of motorists on interstate highway, enforcement of traffi c laws on those highways and in some cases, engagement in statewide law enforcement and criminal investigation.
Th ese practices in some few countries may be viewed as fundamental, which remains enough reasons the agitation for the introduction of state Police in Nigeria continues to attract attention of individuals and groups in authorities. Regrettably, it would be recalled that Poland had one time operated a state Police, but was unable to sustain it because of numerous challenges it encountered and subsequently had to revert to federal policing. However, the advantages of state Police pale into a gale of negative dimensions when such Police operate at the whims and caprices of a state governor who can use such agency as an instrument of vendetta. It is open to abuse and misuse against political opponents. While state Police exists in developed countries such as the US, it may be a dangerous idea in an unripe democracy like Nigeria.
Th e establishment of state Police will place enormous burden on the state governments most of which have not paid their workers’ salaries for months Many others are yet to settle backlog of unpaid pension, funding of education, healthcare, agriculture as well as provision of the much needed dividends of democracy to the people. It is suicidal to give the state government more than they can chew. Besides, indigenes are most likely to populate a state Police. Th ere are genuine fears that such security operatives may become too familiar with the terrain such that they compromise and overlook certain crimes, instead of checking them. As a result, they become a problem and not a solution. Even though the call for the novelty in Nigeria is not new, the question that agitates the minds of many Nigerians and, of course, should be of concern, is are we really ripe for the practice?
Th ere is no doubt that Nigerians are faced with insecurity challenges of diverse dimensions of recent, and that prompted the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim K. Idris, to seek the Federal Government’s approval to recruit at least 31,000 police personnel per annum for a period of fi ve years. Th is will defi nitely augment the manpower of the force and meet the UN standard ratio of one policeman to four hundred people (1:400). And as we can rightly observe, the Nigeria Police Force has continuously been challenged by diffi culties for too long. As a follow-up call to the governors, the IGP recently solicited their support in urging the Legislature to favourably consider the stagnated Police Trust Fund Bill in the National Assembly.
Nevertheless, we must without hesitation, attempt to justify the need for the proper training, equipping and fi nding of the force, not of the desire to introduce state Police in Nigeria. It is obvious that we are challenged by nationwide security matters. Th is obviously calls for collective eff ort to participate in the drive to challenge and address the burning issues. Th is brings the need for synergy among the Armed Forces of Nigeria into fore, to collectively address the insecurity challenge. While it is conceded that freedom of opinion warranted the call for state police, this class of thought only enlivens the body polity of the country. A school of thought has convincingly argued that the introduction of state Police in Nigeria is a tacos invitation to chaos and attempt to create perpetual fear in the minds of innocent citizens Not too long ago a former Police Commissioner of Lagos State, Alhaji Abubakar Tsav, observed that state Police would turn into a weapon of intimidation and harassment of the opponents by state governors.
In the same vein, Simon Ebegbulem, in a news comment, reported Senator Rowland Onzie, former chief whip in the Senate, as saying the National Assembly should not support the call for the creation of state Police as governors would likely use them as a tool of intimidation of opponents. In his words, it was reported that “creation of state Police will not only create dictators out of some governors but will also cause mayhem that may snowball into a civil war in some states”. Th ere is no doubt that with the creation of State Police, commissioners of Police will be at the beck and call of governors. Th ese governors will dish out instructions at will and injustice will become the order of the day. Accordingly, Senator Onie observed that “No sane Nigerian will at this stage of the political development of our great country, support the establishment of State Police Force, especially when we are witnesses to how the governors have turned State Independent Electoral Commissions (SIECs) to departments of state Government House.
It is quite obvious that elections conducted by the SIECs for both chairmanship and councillorship have never refl ected the wishes of the people as they have always been manipulated to only favour the ruling party. To say the least is to agree with the disposition that Nigeria is not yet matured to operate a state Police, particularly in view of prevailing tension all over the country. Even civil rights activists didn’t mince words when at a recent event, they submitted that a state police would compromise unity and peaceful coexistence among Nigerians
. Th e disadvantages are more than the advantages and that is the danger in calling for its creation. Nigerians must all agree that we are challenged by the threat of insecurity just as we lack in various aspects the capacity to ensure properly funded security operation to take head on the challenges. Our security operatives are not isolated beings from a diff erent world, we are all Nigerians with our individual diff erences. It is for this reason that the urgent call to transform the Police in Nigeria for proper policing must begin with us. Indeed, the criminals and agents of insecurity live, wine and dine amongst us all, these individuals know themselves and are known to all, they still go about operating with reckless abandon.
Th e issue, therefore, does not necessarily reside in the creation of state Police, rather it is more appropriate that we challenge ourselves as individuals to be more security conscious, determined to do the right things and all agree to proper funding of the Nigeria Police Force to allow it perform maximally. Th us, my submission that we are not yet ripe for State Police in Nigeria, however, does not close the door to the fact that when we become politically stable and national matters are handled with patriotism, we may begin to think of having state Police. Abayomi, a public aff airs analyst, wrote from Abuja
