The concept of police force stems from the need for protection and enforcement of the law, and the Nigeria Police Force is not an exception. It is the brainchild of the British colonial government and dates back to 1861, following the annexation of Lagos. The British Consul charged with the administration of Lagos established a Consular Guard by the Police Ordinance of 1861 to help maintain law and order.
The imperialist administration followed this up in 1879, with a 1,200 paramilitary Hausa Constabulary. Some years later, it formed the Lagos Police, and in 1894, the Niger Coast Constabulary in Calabar under the authority of Niger Coast Protectorate was established, while the Royal Niger Company set up the Royal Niger Company Constabulary in Lokoja in 1888.
These constabularies were collapsed in the early 1900s into two – the Northern and the Southern Nigeria Police. Although there was an amalgamation of the Northern and Southern protectorates in 1914, the two regions maintained their separate police forces until 1930, when they were merged to form the Nigeria Police Force. The merger is what has grown to become the centralised police system although it is on record that the unified structure co-existed with police forces in the then Western and Northern Nigeria (excluding Eastern Region) until the coup of January 15, 1966 brought the military, which later abrogated the provision in the 1963 Constitution that authorises the establishment of local police.
The then military regime hinged its decision on the assumption that the local police, especially in the Western Region, witnessed mass recruitment of party thugs, while in the North, it was a case of oppression of political opponents. It is on record that the Native Authority Police not only earned notoriety for using undue coercion and intimidation to enlist support for the ruling parties in the respective regions, it denied opposition parties permits for rallies and generally enforced the obnoxious an ‘unlawful assembly’ law.
Arguments for and against state police While many are of the view that Nigeria is still not yet ripe for state police as there are no guarantees that state the governors will not like in the past, abuse the system, there is no doubt that this is at variance with what operates in most countries that practice the federal system of government. In the United States that Nigeria’s federal structure is fashioned after, there are several police agencies that exist separately.
While the state police take charge of highways and enforcement of state laws, cities have their separate police bodies under the authority of commissioners, who are appointees of the mayors. Some cynics of state police believe that its establishment will lead to eventual disintegration of Nigeria because of existential threats, which may force some of the states to use the police under their respective control to the detriment of national interest.
These pessimists also express the belief that state police is likely to be misused by governors, especially against members of the opposition although the same could equally be said of the central government as there has always been allegations that political parties in charge at the federal level have continuously used the police to rig elections.
Proponents of state police, on their part, the Federal Government must embark on a workable decentralization of the police force because the internal security of each state in line with the federal system of government in operation is the responsibility of state authorities, while the central government playing a complementary role. According to them, establishment of independent police units managed and funded by state governments will ensure effective policing of the country.
They attributed the inefficiency of the Nigeria Police Force to under-funding and administrative bottlenecks. Noting that it is herculean for an individual to control the police force in the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, they also maintained that it makes no sense that governors, who are the chief security officers in their respective states, do not have control of instruments of security.
They further posited that it is dangerous to expose the military to internal security issues as such may over time affect the impartiality and neutrality that military personnel are known for as well as compromise its traditional role to protect the territorial integrity of the nation. State police bill On February 20, a bill proposing the creation of state police successfully passed the second reading at the House of Representatives.
The legislation titled, “A bill for an Act to alter the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, to provide for the establishment of State Police and related matters.” The bill seeks the removal of police from the exclusive legislative list to the concurrent list.
The exclusive list contains all items that only the federal government can act upon while the concurrent list contains issues that both the federal government and state governments can act on. Sponsored by the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu and 13 others, the bill was designed to improve public safety and strengthen law enforcement in Nigeria by decentralising the police.
The proposal in the bill provides for state police alongside the federal police and outlines a constitutional framework for states that choose to establish and maintain their service. Backed by 13 House members, the bill gained the majority’s favour in the Green Chamber, with many lawmakers arguing that the security challenges take preeminence over concerns about political victimisation by state governors.
In the last Assembly, the state police bill was rejected by the lawmakers, who felt that state governors may abuse state police. However, in the face of rising insecurity, there seems to be a favourable disposition to the bill by the current Assembly. Nigerians remain underserved by the current policing system. There are about 371,000 police officers to 223 million citizens, and about two-thirds of them are deployed to protect VIPs.
President Tinubu’s endorsement while arguments against state police revolve around its abuse, President Tinubu, on February 16, specifically approved a committee comprising state governors and representatives of the Federal Government to, among other things, explore modalities for establishment of state police as part of measures to check the rising wave of insecurity in the country.
So far, 16 states have submitted their positions on the issue according to a report submitted to the National Economic Council (NEC) at its 140th meeting held virtually and chaired by Vice President Kashim Shettima on March 21. The Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Atiku Bagudu, who briefed State House Correspondents after the meeting said out of the 36 states, 20 state governors and the FCT were yet to make their submissions. He, however, did not mention the states.
Governors elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had before President Tinubu’s endorsement of creation of state police (February 12), restated their position on state policing as the solution to the country’s worsening security situation. Also, socio-political and regional groups such as Afenifere, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Middle Belt Forum and the Northern Elders’ Forum, have repeatedly called for state police as a solution to the myriad of increasing security challenges confronting the country.
Already, states in the South-West geopolitical zone have formed the Amotekun, while their counterparts in the South-East also created the Ebube Agu security outfit. The Benue Guards has also been operational in Benue State in the North Central, while states like Katsina, Zamfara, and other bandit-prone sub-nationals have also come up with similar state established outfits.
Jonathan, Abdulsalami expresses support The regional and state security outfits have not been as effective as anticipated as they do not have the backing of the Federal Government and as such have not been granted license to bear assault rifles like AK-47s to confront lethal gun-toting criminal elements.
This, perhaps, informed why former President Goodluck Jonathan and ex-Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, recently expressed the belief that establishment of state police is non-negotiable. The duo spoke at the “National Dialogue on the Establishment of State Police” organised by the House of Representatives Committee on Constitution Review in Abuja last week.
Jonathan, who maintained that state policing is not up for debate, but rather the establishment of mechanisms to prevent abuse, said: “The issue today is very critical. One thing is that we don’t need to debate whether we should have state police or not. I think that matter has been concluded.
The issue is the operations of the police.” Recounting his experience as governor of Bayelsa State and some of the actions he had to take to ensure the prevention of abuse, Jonathan said the 2014 National Conference organised by his administration supported the creation of state police, adding that Nigeria could not afford to toy with the idea of state police any longer.
“We must not waste our time debating whether we should have state police or not, we should concentrate on how to check abuses by state political actors. The key area that we need to debate is how we will run the state police to secure the security architecture of the country so that it is most effective and devoid.
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