Now that there is consensus on state police

 

I have been a staunch advocate of state police despite the concerns raised in some quarters about the propensity of governors to grossly abuse the security outfit if created. Even the rank of Nigerian governors was divided on whether or not to establish state police. The southern governors were fully in support of this initiative, but their northern counterparts were not so enthusiastic initially. Thus, out of frustration, South-West governors of Lagos, Oyo, Ogun, Ondo, Ekiti, and Osun decided to establish the South-West Security Network, better known as Amotekun Corps, in January 2020.

On Monday, February 12, 2024, governors elected under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party met in Abuja and issued a communique in which they called for the establishment of state police with appropriate safeguards to prevent abuse. Earlier this month, the Lagos State House of Assembly also passed a resolution calling for the establishment of state police. Even this newspaper, in a February 13 editorial titled “Ekiti: State police, not troops deployment,” also lent its voice to the call for the establishment of state police.

Well, it seems that the federal government has eventually succumbed to the popular request by the people and their representatives in government. Last Thursday, February 15, 2024, President Bola Tinubu met with the 36 state governors in Abuja, and it was reported that the federal government appears to have finally come around to the idea of having state police.

The Leadership newspaper of last Friday published that at a meeting with 36 state governors, attended by Vice President Kashim Shettima, the National Security Adviser, the Inspector-General of Police, the Director-General of the Directorate of State Services, and some ministers at the State House in Abuja, it approved the composition of a committee to begin the groundwork for the establishment of state police. President Tinubu, in a statement by presidential spokesman Ajuri Ngelale, approved the establishment of a committee comprising state governors and representatives of the federal government to, among other things, explore the modalities for establishing state police. He further endorsed the training and equipping of forest rangers by sub-national governments to safeguard human and natural resources in local communities.

This newspaper in its February 15 edition listed the six takeaways from the meeting under reference. It said, “On addressing insecurity which is also affecting farming and food production, President Tinubu made three key pronouncements. He informed the governors that the Federal Government will work with them and the National Assembly towards putting in place a mechanism that will engender state police instead of the vigilantes that are being used in some states. The President charged the governors to strengthen their Forest Rangers and arm them to keep all the forests safe from criminals. Modalities for state police and addressing security issues are to be discussed further at the National Economic Council.”

This is a positive development. It’s an anathema to have centralised policing in a federal system of government. Yes, it is true that in the First Republic, the Native Authority Police was grossly abused by regional Premiers, but that was eons ago. It is noteworthy that there are three pillars in the justice sector – the police, the courts, and the prisons. State High Courts have been in existence with Federal High Courts, and last year, ex-President Muhammadu Buhari signed a constitutional alteration removing correctional centres (Prisons) from the Exclusive Legislative List to the Concurrent Legislative List, thereby making it an area of interest between the federal and state governments. Unfortunately, the first pillar, which is the police, is still left on the exclusive list.

The aforementioned PUNCH editorial was on point when it said, inter alia, that “Nigeria’s current police structure is diabolical. In a federal state, it is single, weak, and shorthanded. In a country of 220 million, it consists of just 371,000 officers, most of whom are assigned to VIP guard duties. Also, the reliance on a single federal police force has strained resources and limited the capacity to address security concerns adequately across Nigeria. It has failed woefully to protect citizens, 5,135 of whom have died in violence in Tinubu’s first seven months in office, per the International Centre for Investigative Journalism. Under his predecessor, Muhammadu Buhari (2015-2023), Nigeria recorded 63,111 violent deaths, SBM Intelligence said. With this, the argument for the localisation of policing attains crucial impetus.”

I have granted several media interviews on this issue. I spoke on this on Sunday Politics of February 4, 2024, on Trust TV. I also granted interviews to the Blueprint newspaper and Nigeria Info 92.3 FM, Port Harcourt. I mince no word about my wholehearted support for state police, but there is a caveat. As the groundwork for its establishment is on, I am using this opportunity to sound the following notes of warning. State police must have sustainable funding; otherwise, the citizens will be imperilled when and if members of the force decide to use their allotted weapons to fend for themselves. The point here is that state police must be well-resourced in terms of office spaces (police stations), barracks, arsenal, operational vehicles, communication gadgets, forensic laboratories, and technological devices such as drones, closed-circuit televisions, scanners, jammers, etcetera. The welfare of the state police personnel must also be paramount. Salaries and allowances must be paid as and when due.

I believe that the time has come for the review of the revenue allocation formula in favour of states, given that there is now devolution of powers as per the correctional centres, railways, and electricity, which have been devolved from exclusive to concurrent legislative lists. Creating state police is bad news for federal police, many of whom have been partially funded by governors using the security votes and funds mobilised from the Police or Security Trust Funds, which many of them have established. Now, the governors would have to make public their security votes and give accounts of how they spend it.

The other issue that needs to be resolved is the areas of operations between the federal and the state. This should be well spelled out to avoid a clash of interest and conflicts. In order to address the genuine concern of potential human rights violations and abuse of office, there should be empanelled a board to oversee the state police and resolve any violation of citizens’ rights. Additionally, I believe victims of abuse by the state police will have the right to approach the National Human Rights Commission and the courts for redress.

It is important to also advise that recruitment and promotion in the state police should be merit-based. There should be a competitive examination for recruits who should also be educated. Discipline of any erring officer should be prioritised. I am of the considered view that each state should be allowed to establish its own state police when they have the wherewithal to do so given that they are not equally endowed. It is also important to state that those to be recruited into state police should be familiar with the environment of operations and be subjected to drug tests, psychiatric tests, and integrity tests. There should also be mopping up of small arms and light weapons floating around the country. It is hoped that work on the legal framework for the state police will be expedited so that this outfit can take off latest by the first quarter of 2025.