On the creation of state police and insecurity

On Tuesday 18th February, 2020 when the last article was published ‘Insecurity and Resort to Self-help’, I worked into a barber shop to have a haircut, and a conversation about the article and the creation of state police ensued. One customer said the issue of state police has been handled with political gloves for the […]

On Tuesday 18th February, 2020 when the last article was published ‘Insecurity and Resort to Self-help’, I worked into a barber shop to have a haircut, and a conversation about the article and the creation of state police ensued. One customer said the issue of state police has been handled with political gloves for the 10 years it has been talked about, and that is why it is impossible for it to work in Nigeria. He even went further to say that the Confab report which has been left to be nothing more than an antique for our national bookshelf recommended the creation of state police, but no one was looking at it. There was an ad hoc committee on constitutional review in 2018 to propose legislation for the creation of state police, but till now, nothing has been done about it.

Another customer said it is only those with government protection that are really secured in this country; as such he ought not to be against the regions trying to protect themselves with the creation of Amotekun and Shege Ka Fasa. That the only way to be secure in this country is to protect yourself by yourself, not relying on the security agencies. Then I was told of an individual who armed men stormed his residence late at night, but could not gain entrance, because he was armed and returned fire.

I tried to defend the creation of state police by calling it community policing, which would practically be the same as the regional security outfits, and if the states in a region can sponsor a security outfit, why not just let each state manage its own police force. The governor of a state, as the chief security officer of that state should be able to tell volatile areas in the state, and the number of police officers needed to combat such menace. Furthermore, why I say state police is same as community policing is because you need not transfer anyone from anywhere, all the government needs to do is to employ the youths of the state as police officers to protect their own environment. They would know a stranger when he/she comes to town, and respond faster to any menace happening in their immediate environment.

To my mind, I thought I was actually making sense, then I was dealt with words that made my feet weak, “Young man this is Nigeria we are talking about, the politicians are heavily protected with government resources, it is the poor innocent Nigerians that are dying daily, and so state police will not work if it is going to be against their political interest, in the meantime, let every region protect the lives and properties of its members”.

This got me thinking, and I realised that every time the issue of state police is mentioned, the objection has always been that it would make the governors of states use the police as he/she wills. But then again, if we are to be honest to ourselves, how do we expect a governor to be the chief security officer of a state if he/she is not in charge of the security agencies in the state?

Nigerians have failed to understand that the centre (i.e Abuja in the instant case) is too overwhelmed that its good intentions are not felt by the over 180 million Nigerians. We have reached a bridge where the structure cannot hold, and why not fashion out a structure that will hold? Why does every approval have to come from Abuja? It is this long trail of bureaucracy to the federal capital that has hindered meaningful development in the rural communities.

The states need to be empowered to take over certain responsibilities for its indigenes, leaving the national (i.e federal government) with the very important and sacrosanct duties. Which begs the question, how many politicians actually reside in their states? Everyone is moving to Abuja, that is why the states have remained in neglect and vulnerable to security attacks.

It might be true that only political interest is the motivating factor for any meaningful legislation in the National Assembly, like the anti-social media bill. But then again, if insecurity is allowed to kill all the poor, weak and downtrodden in the society, when it’s done, its next target will be those in high places.

Enough of the politicisation of insecurity in the country, Nigerian lives matter, instead of focusing on bills that only draw media attention, why not revisits the proposal for legislation for the creation of state police. “Desperate times, call for desperate measures”

#NigerianLivesMatter

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