The security challenge in the country has been on the front-burner, following the Boko Haram insurgency. In this report, Assistant Editor LEKE SALAUDEEN examines the viability of state and neighbourhood police in combating crime.
In Nigeria, the fear of the Boko Haram sect is the begining of wisdom. In the Northeast, economic and social activities are paralysed. Schools are not safe. Traditional rulers have no rest of mind. Non-indigenes are relocating to their states of origin.
However, other geo-political zones are not insulated from terror. In the South, cases of kidnapping, armed robbery and ritual killings are rampant. In the Northewest and Central, attacks on local farmers by Fulani herdsmen have persisted. Governors have cried out that they are helpless, although they are chief security officers of their respective states. All these have fuelled the agitations for state police to combat crime.
The impression being created by the Federal Government, despite these criminal activities, is that the situation is under control. But, critics have pointed out that the police and other security agencies highly centralised security agencies lack the capacity to stem the menace.
Before the escalation of crisis in the North, there were calls for police reforms, in line with what obtains in countries that operate the federal system of government. This issue is likely to take the centre stage when the National Conference starts the debate on the restructuring and devolution of powers.
In the past, attempts have been made to develop a formidable police. But, these efforts have failed to produce the desired results.
The proponents of decentralised policing system have argued that the method would foster a kind of partnership between the government and grassroots people in the area of crime prevention. In their view, state or community police will enable the governors to become more pro-active and make security agents more responsive to the security challenge.
Already, there are unofficial security outfits that perform functions similar to that of the envisaged state police. What is required, critics argue, is to grant them the legal backing that would enable them carry arms and perform functions reserved exclusively for the police. For instance, the Lagos State government introduced the Kick Against Indiscipline (KAI) to enforce environmental sanitation law. Similarly, the Lagos State Transport Management Authority (LASTMA) was set up by former Governor Bola Tinubu to enforce traffic rules.
At the height of violent crimes in the Southeast, the Anambra and Abia state governments established vigilante groups known as Bakassi Boys to maintain security. Also, former Kano State Governor Ibrahim Shekarau established Hisbah, a para-military outfit, to enforce Islamic legal code (Sharia) to stem social vices.
A retired Commissioner of Police, Alhaji Abubakar Tsav, who served in one of the police reform panels, said that state police would perform better than the current centralised police structure. Noting that security cannot be considered in isolation, he said that it should be viewed as part of the overall framework of governance. Many issues, Tsav added, must be considered to foster security. These, in his view, include the economy, religion, labour and politics. The ex-police officer said the ball is in the court of lawmakers to introduce reforms that would enhance the security of lives and property in the country.
Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu apparently shared this view. He called for the amendment of Sections 214 and 215 of the constitution to pave the way for the establishment of state police. He noted that the two sections give exclusive control of the police force to the Federal Government. Ekweremadu said the police should be transfered from Item 45 of Part 1 of the Second Schedule of the 1999 Constitution to the Concurrent List to allow states to operate a policing system under approved guidelines. He urged the National Assembly to provide the framework for the establishment, structure and powers for the state police.
For the system to work, Ekweremadu proposed the establishment of the State Police Service Commission in the 36 states. He suggested that the commission should be made up of the representative of the governor, a representative of the Federal Government to be appointed by the Police Service Commission, two experts in security matters to be appointed by the governor, subject to the confirmation of the House of Assembly, and representatives of other stakeholders.
A lawyer, Mr. Tayo Ogungbade, agreed with Ekweremadu’view. He said the establishment of state police has become imperative, based on the principles of equity, justice and fairness. He noted that every state has the power to give judgment through state High Courts and Magistrate Courts and make law through the House of Assembly. The legislators, according to the lawyer, should have concomitant powers to enforce its laws and police the state.
Ogungbade said: “This is an extension of the principle of federalism to which Nigeria’s federal and state courts exist as stipulated in Section 6 of the 1999 Constitution. Federalism is not complete without the existence of state police. In more advanced federating societies, there are federal and state police”.
The lawyer pointed out that, in the United States, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) exists as a federal police structure while states and councils also have seperate police establishments. He added: “Big institutions like universities and parks have their own police outfits. A critical analysis of the constitution reveals that each of the states constituting Nigeria is supposed to be a complete government on its own, with powers to make laws, enforce them and punish offenders through the judicial arm.
“Yet, under the Nigeria legal system, the only institution saddled with the responsibility of enforcing laws is the Nigeria Police Force, a federal agency. Section 215(4) of the constitution is unequivocal that a state Commissioner of Police shall be at liberty to refer a directive given by a governor to the President before acting on it. In Nigeria, where most government decisions are influenced by politics, a governor’s directive to commissioner of Police is bound to be misinterpreted and vetoed by federal authorities”
Ogungbade cited an example of how the Presidency has undermined the state in the case involving former Senate Leader Teslim Folarin in 2011. He recalled that, without waiting for any legal advice, the police, acting the script of the Federal Government, withdrew the charge against Folarin.
The lawyer, who supported the decentralisation police, said: “The choices before us are clear. One is to continue doing things the old way and continue to get the old and same result. The other is to embrace change by facing the realities on ground and by borrowing a leaf from other vast and pluralistic federal states that have nevertheless, secured their territories. “While the choice is ours, let us never forget that the choice we make today would shape our future.”
But, there are those who think that, although the current system has not produced the desired result, it could be reformed to perform better. One of their major arguments against the state police is that it could be misused by governors. The antagonists argued that a state police could become a tool of political oppression.
However, human rights activist Alfred Okagbue disagreed. He said the Federal Government is also guilty of the abuse of the police against the opposition. He cited the example of the demolition of property of perceived political opponents on trumped up charges in Yenogoa, the Bayelsa State capital, Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory(FCT) by the Federal Government.
Okagbue recalled that the former Rivers State Commissioner of Police, Mr.Joseph Mbu, acted the Federal Government’s script to make life uncomfortable for Governor Rotimi Amaechi.
He said fears over the misuse of state police could be addressed by the constitution, adding that a strong justice system would cutrtail any abuse. He emphasied that the victims of the abuse are likely to be elite who have resources to seek redress in court.
The antagonists of state police have also pointed out that the state government may find it difficult to fund the police outfits, in view of the especially with dwindling allocation from the Federation Account. But, Okagbue dismissed the argument. He said that, under the new system, the state government will re-order its priorities.
He added: “No matter the paucity of funds, it is a known fact that the security vote of governors still runs into billions of naira. This could be used to fund the state police.
“So, the security vote remains a yearly take-off fund for the state police where it will be operational. That means the security vote has to be judiciously utilised. It is commendable that some governors have often used this to procure operational vans, bullet proof vests, arms and ammunition for the federal police operating in their domain. Funds for the state police could also accrue from development partners who need such an institutional framework to provide support for the state government as the need arises.
Ogungbade maintained that state police has a lot of advantages that are often overlooked. He said that it would ensure the security of lives and property in the community because the security agents understand local environment. It could also complement the work of the “federal policemen”, who do not know the terrain and people and engage in extra-judicial killings. State police will therefore boost the security of lives and property.
Ogungbade added: “If there is a state police in Borno State before the advent of Boko Haram, the situation would have been different. The state police would have nipped the excesses of the sect in the bud before it escalated. Although this does not mean that countries with long established state police do not have incidence of local terrorism and extremism. But, the efficiency of detecting, tracking and smashing crime syndicates locally is there for all to see”.
A retired Commissioner of Police, Chief Young Arabame, said the state police would attract a lot of goodwill from the community. He said there will be more commitment on the part of policemen because they are also members of the community.
Arabame said that state police would reduce the ratio of a policeman to the citizenry. He also said the country has one of the highest ratios of policemen to the people in the world, adding that this partly explains why the crime wave is high. He added: “If state police is introduced, the ratio would reduce and crime would potentially decline, thereby making policing effective. Nigeria is too large and heterogeneous for its security matter to be centralised.”
