As Nigerians renew calls for the creation of State Police in response to widespread insecurity in the country, Vice President, Yemi Osibajo adds his voice to the clamours. In this report, Assistant Editor, CHINWE MADUAGWU, examines the possibility of State Police in Nigeria.
Many Nigerians sleep with one eye open as a result of growing insecurity in the country. With the recent abduction of 107 female students of Dapchi Science and Technical College in Yobe State, the security challenges facing the country have become more glaring.
From the dreaded Boko Haram terrorists’ bombings, raidings and violent abductions to Fulani herdsmen bloody attacks on communities. From kidnapping for ransom to agitations for resource control and self determination, no one seems to be safe in the country.
The Police and other security agencies appear to be overwhelmed while government shows signs of inability to deal with the security challenges. But at a recent function, Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osibajo joined forces with many Nigerians who have been demanding the establishment of State Police in the country to counter the spread of violent crimes. Osinbajo expressed the opinion that it was time to decentralise the Police Force so that states would have their own Police as a way of solving the security situation in the various state of the federation.
Although many Nigerians are resolute about their demand for State Police, there are also questions as to whether State Police is truly the solution to insecurity problem in the country.
Mr. Tompra Abarowei told The Next Edition that “This position has been muted by various security analysts in the past. They are of the opinion that security is a local problem which needs local solution. They say that criminals usually operate in familiar terrains and it is only local policing that can best tackle the situation.”
He expressed the view that “Brilliant as the suggestion may be, the establishment of State Police in Nigerian is bound to present a greater challenge to our present society. Politicians in Nigeria have been known to behave more like overlords than public servants. The present constitution gives too much powers to State Governors which they are likely to use to oppress the citizens and people that they view as enemies.
Abarowei cited examples with “powerful politicians who use Police details to intimidate their perceived enemies and sometimes shoot ordinary citizens who disturb their convoys. When they do occur the personalities involved are sometimes reprimanded due to public outcry.” He further expressed doubts that the country is ripe for State Police, given what he believes to be “our penchant for oppressing one anther.”
Furthermore, in Abarowei’s opinion, the best way to confront the security situation is to reassess existing security architecture. “Provide more funds for the Police for it to recruit and train more qualified personnel. Equip the force with the latest crime fighting equipment using advanced technology. The present level of staffing is very appalling and disgraceful. Despite the inadequacy in the number of policemen in the country the force still deploys personnel to persons who ordinarily can afford to engage private security agencies for their safety.”
He also canvassed the view that government should revitalize the intelligence arm of the police to enable it gather vital information for the prevention of crime. He kicked against the idea of setting up special outfits like the EFCC, NDLEA, etc to solve security issues. “These outfits,” he said, “are mostly made up of regular Police officers with experience and given better pay to do their work. Where does this leave the Policemen and women who are left in the force? They are demoralized and discriminated against in terms of funding. All these should be looked into. I think government should concentrate on strengthening the Police Force we have already.”
Another respondent, Mr. Ifeanyi Ughuegbu supports the idea of State Police. His argument: “We practice presidential system of government with federating states. We copied it from US. In the US they have State Police. It has been working for them. It’s important when we copy, we do it correctly. It’s obvious that the Nigerian Police have failed the country. There is too much bureaucracy and oppression because of Nigeria’s obvious lopsided politics that makes people in service from certain sections of the country to look superior to others. This promotes mediocrity and leads to low moral. This in turn destroys professionalism.”
According to Ughuegbu, given the fact that the country has always had a Police Force that is controlled only from the centre since independence and the system hasn’t worked, sticking to it would amount to getting the same result – failure.
He said, “Governors are called chief security officers of their states. What do they use to secure their states? Bare hands? If they must continue to have that name then they must be properly equipped, otherwise, the name is a misnomer. We have seen governors whose states faced serious danger like Benue, Enugu, Plateau, Taraba. They have had their citizens massacred after informing the federal government of imminent danger, days before they happened. This can’t happen if there’s State Police.”
Continuing, Ughuegbu said, “a situation where a governor has to go through horrendous bureaucracy to get police to stave off aggression and in some cases they don’t get means that national police has outlived it’s usefulness. A country with the level of mistrust we have in Nigeria will be deluding her citizens if the operators believe having only a national police is the answer.”
Ughuegbu insists that “We need State Police that are accountable and refocused. They need to be properly trained and paid with better conditions of service. I think the importance of State Police is that even the land recognises its people. It’s easy to get intelligence information if you understand the language of the people. It’s also easy to fish out criminals. In fact policing has moved from what we do to community.
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“ For community policing to happen and achieve the desired results the officers must come from the locality. They must be seen as normal people the locals can relate with. By so doing, the personnel will not be alienated from the people they’re paid to protect. This will lead to a drop in crime and improve security of lives and properties.”
But on the contrary, another respondent, Mr. Chucks Nwoke says he does not believe in the concept of State Police. “I believe in what we have now, and what we have, which community policing should be strengthened and funded adequately.”
Nwoke canvassed the view that the problem of insecurity is a global phenomenon. “Technology, information technology and contemporary communication policy should be deployed. Elites and politicians should learn how to accept defeat from political contests, and stop instigating security crisis. More graduate police personnel should be employed. Police personnel should be adequately rewarded in terms remuneration and other perks of office. While the different states of the federation should have reasonable numbers of their citizens drafted into the Nigeria Police force. Above all Nigerian citizens should behave well at all times.”
For Mr. Pascal Nworgu, who supports State Police, it will help in fighting insecurity in the country, for obvious reasons. “The current federal policing is a creation of colonial masters, when they had to create barracks all over the country. This was to move forces in group to suppress agitations then and since then Nigeria had had to live with it. Globally security of lives and property has changed, and the focus is on intelligence gathering, technology and this is where State Police becomes inevitable.
“Nigeria police can be restructured by creating State Police and Federal Police. The State Police can handle local security challenges which require intelligence gathering and it must be indigenes who can understand the language to stop the action before it take place, example is this Fulani/herdsmen clashes.
“Also armed robbery, cultism, etc can be checked through intelligence gathering in beer parlors where local languages are spoken. Then on the federal level, which would be like FBI in USA, they come when local Police can’t contain the insecurity, especially when the local Police can not prevent it and it has spread beyond their limit.
“Then in respect of funding the federal will shade some weight and allocate more fund to the state as they are going to take up some responsibilities of the federal. In respect of checks and balances, that is, excesses of some state governors who would use it to intimidate political opponents or individuals, the federal Police can always come to the help of such political opponents or individuals based of the constitution backing the Sate Police.
“In all, l will support State Police but with some checks and balances like it is done in some developed world.”
Similarly, Mr. Tunde Majekodumi’s thoughts on the issue is that Nigeria is not ready for state police. His words: “Nigeria is not so ripe for that. There will be too much politics involved. The governors will use it for vendetta, revenge and all that. Things that don’t happen in other places where they have State Police will probably happen here.
“But then, the federal Police we have now is not even the solution to the problem of insecurity in the country because they are too far removed from the places the crimes are taking place. I think what needs to be done is to get the right people to do the job of policing. I think the head of the Police Force both at the Federal and State levels should be elected as is done in some countries. If they know they have to stand election and re-election they will not mess up. But again, this can only work where electoral processes are transparent otherwise they will right in whoever they want.”
Majekodumi expressed frustration over the complex nature of the issue as there are so many issues at different levels in the country.
Mr. Nedum Ejiogu, a lawyer, while supporting the creation of State Police said, “State Police in my view is a more effective system for combating insecurity in Nigeria than the current centralized system ( federal government controlled) under section 14 of the constitution. The argument that it is subject to abuse and manipulation by governors and powerful citizens is valid but I believe it can still be instituted by introducing constitutional safeguards to check arbitrariness by these powerful forces. Indeed the security challenges in the country are quite complex.
“With state police or a decentralized police system, communities are more involved and integrated in addressing the problem of criminal activities and insecurity. The Police becomes more familiar with customs, cultures and community activities. Trust and cooperation is better secured from the community; local knowledge, community partnerships and reduced bureaucracy helps greatly with crime detection and prevention, investigation and prosecution. Whether, we keep the current system or adopt State Police system, what is really of greater or paramount importance is reforms.
“In either systems, we need reforms geared towards significant improvements in discipline, service delivery, quality of Police personnel, professional and modern training methods, etc. Such institutional changes that can impact positively on attitudes and morale are also needed like rewards for performance and heroism, improved compensation as well as reorientation on values and patriotism.”
Ejiogu said, “In either systems, there must be sufficient budgetary allocation to address policing challenges. We need up to-date technological and scientific expertise, comprehensive and robust criminal justice training in areas like psychology, forensic investigation, hand writing analysis, cyber security, research labs and overall modern ICT infrastructure.”
Whether state police or a federal force as is presently constituted, one thing is certain, something needs to be done and really quickly to ensure safety for the ordinary Nigerian.