State police issue arrests Nigeria

It was Vice President Yemi Osinbajo who added impetus to the debate on state police during the opening of a two-day summit organised by the Senate Ad hoc Committee on Review of Current Security Infrastructure in Nigeria which was held last week. “We cannot realistically police a country the size of Nigeria centrally from Abuja. […]

It was Vice President Yemi Osinbajo who added impetus to the debate on state police during the opening of a two-day summit organised by the Senate Ad hoc Committee on Review of Current Security Infrastructure in Nigeria which was held last week.

“We cannot realistically police a country the size of Nigeria centrally from Abuja. State police and other community policing methods are clearly the way to go,” Osinbajo said.

And at the end of the meeting, the Chairman of Nigeria Governors’ Forum, Abdulaziz Yari, said creation of state police would help in addressing spate of insecurity in the country.

“Today we have reiterated the position of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo; and the position of the security summit we held in August, that there is a need for the state police; we can say it is the only answer,” he said.

Using his state as case study, Yari said, “There are about four million people in Zamfara and we have fewer than 5000 policemen.”

Undoubtedly, the issue has generated intense debate and it would definitely take time to reach a consensus.

Senator Malam Ali Wakili (APC, Bauchi) said state police will be disastrous.

“The symbol of a collapsed state is where you have a rag tag army, everybody controlling his territory,” he said.

Also, Senator Adamu Aliero (APC, Kebbi) said creation of state police without alternative sources of funding would compound the challenges facing state governments.

“Some states are saying they are not in the position to fund it. They are currently struggling to pay teachers, health workers and other categories of state workers, it is something that we need to discuss and find a way to address the funding gap,” he said.

In November last year,  a lengthy debate on the strength and downsides of establishing state police in Nigeria  ensured that the Senate following a motion sponsored by Tijjani Kaura Zamfara-APC, on the killings and arson by armed bandits in four villages of Shinkafi Local Government Area of Zamfara State.

Senator Dino Melaye (APC, Kogi), said, “Today, I will stand vehemently against the creation of state police because it will be abused by the governors,” he said.

And Senator Mao Ohuabunwa (PDP, Abia) said, “We should leave politics and look for ways to curb this. We need to devolve powers. We might not call it a state police but we should let the states be involved in their own security,” he said.

However, sampled opinion by the Daily Trust on Saturday in some states in  some of the geo political zones in the country indicated the idea of state police is embroiled in politics, security concern and over zealousness; as well as hunger for excessive power by some governors to achieve pre- meditated goal.

In the South East, Mr Donald Iroham who retired as Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) said state it is a must for all federal political arrangements.

“Nigeria cannot be an exception; some states have gone Sharia and had to establish Hisbah Police to suit them. There mustn’t be a central command and control in a federation,” he said.

A call to anarchy – Ehindero

A Former Inspector General of Police ((IGP), Sunday Ehindero, also yesterday said those asking for state police were calling for anarchy.

Ehindero said the country was not ripe for state police and it would be dangerous to implement such. The former IGP was one of the special guests in Lagos at the launch of a book titled; “Security and Justice: The panacea for peace and reconciliation in Nigeria” written by the current Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris.

He said: “I don’t think Nigeria as a nation is ripe for state police. We have tried it in the past and it did not work. It will be used to victimize others during tribal conflicts. What about election, states will use the police to suppress opposition. What if there is problem between those who live at state border towns. What becomes of their fate during crisis? The state police would be used by the different states.”

Oba Akiolu differs

However, Oba Rilwan Akiolu, the Oba of Lagos who is a retired Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG), however threw his weight behind the establishment of state police, saying it would check crises.

According to him, there is so much concentration at the centre, and devolution of powers is the way out of the current security problem facing the country.

“Presently, the Commissioner of Police does not report to the state governor. He reports directly to the AIG and the IG.”

In Benue State, a former Commissioner of Police, Abubakar Tsav, posited that creation of state police would not address the country’s security challenges as some individuals could use the platform to clamp every dissenting voice to jail.

Tsav said Nigeria has not yet attained the maturity for local policing, saying.

He added that the creation of a state police would be the beginning of the disintegration of Nigeria and that peace will elude the nation.

“Very powerful governors will become emperors and there will be no security of tenure for state commissioners of police especially those who refused to be used to violate human rights and propagate injustice,” he said.

On the other hand, the Minority Leader of the Benue State House of Assembly, Sule Audu, affirmed positively to the idea of state police as he disclosed that the assembly was the first in the country to raise a motion toward that direction.

“We (Assembly) would back the creation of state police because it would drastically reduce insecurity at the community level. Criminals would be easily identified because the police know their environment and the locals,” he said.

A member of the Bayelsa State House of Assembly in the South South, Dr. Daniel Igali (PDP, Southern Ijaw constituency 11), said, “I don’t even see the issue of creation of state police deserving discussion; it ought not to be because we operate federal system of government in Nigeria, and you cannot operate this system if you don’t allow the federating units to take care of lives and property of their citizens,” he said.

From Plateau State, a former Assistant Commissioner of Police, Musa K. Abdullahi (rtd) expressed fear that when established, state governors will most likely turn it into a political weapon to witch hunt opponents.

The former ACP, who served in many states across the country before his retirement in 2006, stated that Nigeria should have learnt from the abuse of such power as exemplified by the then Native Authority Police.

“One of the reasons why the Native Authority Police was abolished was because it was greatly abused. I remember well what happed; they (the Native Authority Police) were making arbitrary arrests at the behest of traditional rulers. So, if state police is established, I bet you, the governors will use it to suppress their political opponents,” he said.

But the Plateau state House of Assembly thinks differently. The Deputy Speaker, Shehu Saleh Yipmong the state assembly will support the establishment of state police as long as it is the wishes of majority of the people.

In Sokoto, Malam Abubakar Sokoto Mohammed, who was as a Senior Research Fellow at National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) and now a lecturer at the Department of Sociology, Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, said state police is panacea to Nigeria’s security challenges.

“Nigeria has land area of about 1million square kilometres, we have a population of about 180million and our police is just about 360,000 compared to Egypt, whose population is about 96 million but have one million police officers,” he said.

The varsity don added that state police would reduce unemployment rate as people would be recruited.

“During the First Republic from 1960-1966, we had three types of police in Nigeria: We had the Federal Police, Regional Police and Native Authority Police. The NA was like local government, at that time the local government owned police; they also had the prison and they had the courts,” he said.

A retired Assistant Commissioner of Police in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Dr. Mike Chukwuma, said state police will enhance fighting crime across the State.

“I am an advocate of community policing. When a state police is created, it will automatically become community policing.  There is fear that state police will clash with the Federal Government Police. This will not be possible because the responsibility of each establishment will be clearly spelt out,” he said.

But a public commentator, Dr. Aliyu Tilde said in his wall that state police is just the idea of the ruling class for a hatchet job.

“Do we need more than the supporting statements from the party (APC), governors, presidency and now leadership of the National Assembly to understand where APC is heading to on this matter?

“State police will definitely be ready tools for executing ethnic cleansing plans of governors… With state police let us also forget about free and fair elections.