Emperor Chris Baywood Ibe

The issue of state police creation has engaged the generality of Nigerians for long. Recently, the idea popped up on the floor of the Senate with the senators joining other Nigerians expressing their views on the subject.  The senators in their submissions leaned heavily on the recent killings in Benue and Taraba states and other security concerns in the country. They sounded firm and vocal, maintaining that if there were state-controlled police units in the affected places, the marauding Fulani herders could have been checked. 

The Senate added that if there were existing state police, the recurrent break down of law and order would be a thing of the past. The senators went on to recall that the growing need for state police had brought to the fore, a reminder that amendment to the existing 1999 Constitution was an unfinished business. They reflected that the need for state police clearly demonstrated the growing need for the restructuring of the country.

Indeed, the debate on state police creation did not begin with the Senate. It might not end on the floor of the House either. Therefore, it is a matter that needs caution and careful consideration.  The Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Mr Abubakar Malami agree that much. In September last year, he cautioned the promoters of the state police agenda to tread softly, urging them to be guided by the overall interest of the country. In his submission, he tasked Nigerians eager to see the flip side of the idea, reminding them that although it might be noble, there was need to consider the fears of other compatriots. One of such fears was what the state governors and other influential Nigerians might do with the state police when it is created. He drew attention to attendant arms proliferation, stating that it had the capacity of worsening the country’s security situation.

Now, the issues raised by Mr Malami and other stakeholders are still with us. These are issues no promoter of the state police idea is yet to fully address. The concerns might be casual and cursory, yet combustive. Therefore, everyone promoting this novelty needs to fully and adequately assuage the genuine fears of Nigerians by outlining how it is going work in a system like ours.

As an analyst recently put it, the state police idea is a potential catalyst for chaos, although he agreed that it was an essential defining element of true federalism. He, however, contended that the Nigerian system was totally different from every other one, concluding that the country was not ripe for the idea yet.   A quick reminder here that, some states already have their own security outfits operating like state-owned police. Lagos State has the Kick Against Indiscipline (KAI) Brigade; Kano State, the Hisbah Corps while Kebbi State has created its own Hisbah corps. 

For long, the aforementioned security organs of the first two states have been in place. We all know how they operate with highhandedness, with many non-ethnic nationals at the receiving end of their overzealousness.

In Lagos, the KAI Brigade easily treats persons with levity while the Hisbah Corps is a law unto itself. Both organs often trample on people’s rights with impunity. In all honesty, would non-indigenes get justice in any state where people of the same ethnic group are in the majority? Is this not a silhouette of what to follow when we create state police?

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Now, many have argued that the state police idea will increase the tempo of ethnic militia in the country; I concur. It is bound to ensure that every tribe in the country has its own ready army. It might be too early now to imagine where this impending conflagration will lead us.  

It is feared that some influential people will manipulate the state police to harass and intimidate others who are not from the same area. Indeed, this fear is well founded. Even now, this is happening and nothing has been done about it. Given the kind of system we operate, many people are bound to utilise the state police to achieve their selfish ends. Therefore, many poor persons are bound to suffer on account of this idea.

And now, here is the big one. The state governors will definitely use state police as willing tools to oppress, clubber, intimidate and run their perceived enemies out of town. When this begins to happen, it will be serious. Therefore, it is a disaster waiting to be unleashed on those who will be at the receiving end of the governors’ wrath, knowing how powerful governor are right now.

Now, have we forgotten in a hurry what the governors are doing with the state independent electoral commissions under their watch? Have we forgotten how the ruling party in every state wins local government elections landslide? Have we forgotten how the state governors have hijacked the local government areas in their states?  If the governors have so successfully done all these without any challenge, how is anyone then sure that state police will not be politised? How is anyone sure that we will see something different when each state is allowed to own it police force with the head being the governors’ appointees?

Now, has anyone imagined what the plight of people of ethnic minorities will be in a state where there are ethnic majorities? When the major tribes begin to have issues – as there are bound to be – is it not clear that the majority will unleash its numerical might on the helpless minority using the full force of the state police with their man at the helm? This is very critical in the light of the clamour for state police.  

Over time, we have repeatedly seen how policemen attached top officials of government at the centre clashed with the state governors’ security details, leaving the ordinary man watching a show of power. This is bound to happen even on a larger scale if the country succumbs to this time bomb called state police. Its progenitors may mean well, but the time for it is not now.

Emperor Chris Baywood Ibe, of Save Awgu Forum, Enugu, writes from Lagos