The urgency of state police

The clamour for state police has received a significant boost with the northern and southern governors agreeing on the project. The governors made a case for state police at their recent regional meetings. From their meeting held at the Sir Kashim Ibrahim Government House, Kaduna, the northern states’ governors reaffirmed their full support and commitment to the immediate establishment of state police.

The governors also announced that each state will contribute N1 billion, to be deducted at source, to tackle the insecurity bedeviling the region. To this end, the governors urged National and State Assembly members from the North to expedite action towards the actualisation of state police. This was part of the resolution of the Northern state governors after their meeting with Northern traditional rulers.

On their part, the southern governors and traditional rulers from the South-West, South-East, and South-South, at a joint high-level meeting in Iperu, Ogun State, adopted new measures aimed at strengthening security coordination and regional development. Ogun State governor, Dapo Abiodun, who spoke on the outcome of the meeting, said that the forum agreed on a series of resolutions designed to strengthen regional security, improve intelligence sharing, and deepen collaboration between state governments and traditional authorities.

“Together, we adopted major resolutions, including the creation of a zonal security fund, improved intelligence-sharing systems, sustained advocacy for state police, a unified resident identification programme, stronger regional security outfits, better land and mining governance, and enhanced support for traditional councils,” the governor said.

It is good that governors from the two regions have apparently agreed on the urgency for state police. The security situation in the country makes it imperative to establish state police without any delay. President Bola Tinubu had expressed the readiness of his administration to create state police as a measure to address the rising security challenges across the country. Tinubu, who stated this during a meeting with Katsina elders over the rising spate of insecurity in the state, noted that security challenges in some states would require the deployment of outfits that understand the terrain, respect the local culture, and can easily connect at the grassroots.

The President stated: “I am reviewing all the aspects of security; I have to create a state police. We are looking at that holistically. We will defeat insecurity. We must protect our children, people, livelihood, places of worship, and recreational spaces. They can’t intimidate us.” The proposal by the President came 17 months after he had earlier mooted the idea. Apart from President Tinubu, some Nigerians and socio-cultural groups such as the Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Afenifere, Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), Middle Belt Forum (MBF) had reiterated the need for state police.

The call for state police had earlier been endorsed by most of the state governors. Kaduna State governor, Uba Sani, who disclosed the stance of his colleagues on the matter, said nearly all the states had bought into the proposal, signaling a strong consensus on it. He explained that the states agreed on the experiment due to the unique security challenges confronting the regions and the glaring inadequacies in the current national security framework.

No doubt, the current centralized policing system is no longer effective for Nigeria. We should, like all federations, have multi-layer policing. Nigeria is ripe for state police. In fact, Nigeria should aim at having at least four layers of policing: federal, state, local government and community. This arrangement would take care of our current security challenges and keep the country safe.

The rising criminality in the country has made it almost impossible for the current centralised police structure to effectively protect the people. The present Police Force is too over-stretched for effective response to rising criminality across the country. Since every crime is local, we need those familiar with each locality to be in charge of its security. This will enhance intelligence gathering and sharing. It will also enhance quick response to security matters. The situation in Nigeria today calls for multi-layered police arrangement. Most of the rural areas are largely ungoverned and unprotected.

Therefore, state police is a project that cannot be wished away. This is even as various states and regions in the country already have different outfits for internal security, such as the Hisbah in the North, Amotekun in the West and Ebube Agu in some parts of the East. They only need to be harmonised and formalized into state institutions. We commend the governors from the North and South for closing ranks on state police. However, there must be laws to check its abuse by state governors. The government should be reminded that the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government. This duty should not be abdicated.