RENEWED CLAMOUR FOR STATE POLICE

The agitation for state police is in order

In a new consensus, the Northern Governors Forum (NGF) last week endorsed the creation of state police as a crucial step to stemming the escalating insecurity across Nigeria. In a communique issued at the end of its meeting in Kaduna, Forum Chairman and Governor of Gombe State, Inuwa Yahaya noted that the current centralised policing system is grossly incapable of confronting the scale and complexity of local security threats, particularly in the Northern region. The Forum then called on the National Assembly “to expedite action on the enactment of the legal framework for its take-off.”

The call for state police is not new. Even the wider umbrella of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), prominent institutions and individuals have reiterated the call for state police as the centralised policing system has left many states vulnerable to incessant crimes and violence. The House of Assembly speakers in the 36 states of the federation had earlier endorsed the proposal. Many police officers, retired or serving, have put their weight behind the idea because it would improve the management of internal security and the maintenance of law and order. 

The widespread endorsement is a clear statement that the current structure has failed the system. The entire police force is so overwhelmed that a huge slice of the military asset must be deployed to perform police duty with serious implications on professionalism. However, the issue of state police is a constitutional one. Section 214 (1) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) provides that ‘There shall be a police force for Nigeria, which shall be known as the Nigeria Police Force, and subject to the provisions of this section, no other police force shall be established for the Federation or any part thereof’.

But the governors have very compelling reasons to ask for the decentralisation of the Nigeria Police Force as presently constituted. Besides the slow response times due to bureaucratic delays, centralised policing operates with limited resources spread thinly across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). As a result, the governors as chief security officers of their states bear huge responsibilities for the upkeep and maintenance of the police in form of logistics, allowances and other forms of assistance. Ironically, they have no control or power over the police command in their states, until they get clearance from Abuja. 

The case of the governors was aptly put by the former Ekiti State governor, Kayode Fayemi when he chaired Nigeria Governors’ Forum. Besides immediate security needs, Fayemi noted that the call for state police is an extension of true federalism as each federating unit is supposed to have control of its security apparatus. “In terms of wider knowledge of what obtains in my locality, the best person to use is somebody from that locality who has a much better understanding and will be faster in responding to the immediate needs of that environment,” Fayemi explained at the time. 

Indeed, when police officers understand the communities’ cultural and social dynamics, they are better primed to address the security challenges. In India, for instance, state police forces perform enormous task in effectively combating localised crimes and maintaining order, especially in states with peculiar cultural and geographical contexts.

While we are aware of state policing potential pitfalls, we believe that the merits of having state police are overwhelming. With the active support of the media, the civil society, the legislature and indeed the judiciary, genuine concerns can easily be addressed. But we are of the strong view that the country is overdue for the establishment of state police. We need a locally controlled force capable of responding quickly and effectively to the needs of their communities. This will contribute largely to containing the current crisis of insecurity in Nigeria.