Stakeholders in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa have called on the National Assembly to expedite constitutional amendment for the creation of state police in the country.
The stakeholders made the plea on Monday while responding to a News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) survey on modalities for the creation of state police and how best it could effectively boost internal security nationwide.
Constitutional amendment is the first step to take in the implementation of state police, according to Sadiq Usman, a Damaturu-based lawyer.
The legal luminary pointed out that Section 214 of the 1999 Constitution as amended only recognised the Federal Police under the Exclusive Legislative List.
Amending Section 214 to establish state police Usman said “required initiation for constitutional alteration, achieving two-thirds majority of legislators at the National Assembly and two-thirds majority at the State Houses of Assembly in the 36 states of the Federation.
He, however, said in the event that state policing was considered to be under the “Special Surrounding Circumstances,” the amendment would require four-fifths of the majority members of the National Assembly, in line with Section 9 of the constitution.
The lawyer said other steps in the process included returning the bill to the National Assembly for compilation, Presidential assent as well as gazetting and publication of the proposed state police law for implementation.
However, an intelligent military officer, who also backed the idea, suggested the need for the current revenue allocation formula to be reviewed upward for more funds to be allocated to states to implement the decentralised system of policing.
Brig. Gen. Dahiru Abdulsalam (Rtd), currently, the Special Adviser to Gov. Mai Mala Buni of Yobe on Security Matters, said that the states could augment the statutory allocations with internally generated revenue to fund their police.
NAN reports that the Federal Government currently receives 52.68 per cent of total revenue, 26.72 per cent goes to states while 20.60 per cent is received by local governments and receives 20.72 per cent, and 13 per cent derivation funds are allocated to the oil-producing states.
The retired general said there would be a need for the establishment of states’ Police Commands and training institutions after the amendment to insert policing in the Concurrent List was successful.
Abdulsalam said that federal police personnel would then be engaged to man state police formations until the capacity of state police operatives was developed for them to take over.
He said that the federal police would enforce only federal laws, while state police should focus on enforcing the penal and criminal codes, depending on their state.
“In the constitutional amendment, the roles, responsibilities, powers and jurisdictions of both state and federal police must be clearly defined and delineated such that there won’t be ambiguity and overlap,” the retired general said.
Abdulsalam also suggested that the state police personnel operating in areas bedevilled by banditry or insurgency must bear sophisticated arms as those of the bandits and insurgents, or even better.
He said that the nationwide call for the establishment of state police was timely, adding that the federal police were overwhelmed to effectively handle the challenges at hand.
Dr Lawan Cheri, an expert in Peace Studies and Conflict Management, advised the Federal Government to first understudy state policing in other countries to learn from their experiences.
“Even by so doing, it doesn’t mean that whatever we see there we should just copy and paste. No.
“We can copy how they arrange the institutions and other things, but we must modify our findings to reflect our values, situation and environment,” he said.
Cheri, also a senior lecturer with the Federal Polytechnic, Damaturu, said state police should be managed by a state Police Service Commission headed by retired police officers, who would oversee recruitment of police personnel based on merit.
“It should be captured in the law that those appointed to head the commission must be retired police officers, not below the ranks of an Assistant Inspector General of Police or Deputy Inspector General of Police,” he said.
The expert said funding of state police should not be directly by the governors or a ministry, but by the commission and other relevant agencies.
“The idea is to have financial independence and rid the institution of the control of the political class,” he said.
Cheri said that as long as the police would rely on politicians for operational funds, their neutrality and professionalism could not be guaranteed.
Alhaji Yakubu Kimba, a lawmaker at the Borno State House of Assembly, however, recommended a dedicated State Police Trust Fund, with contributions from the state, local governments and the private sector, to augment funding for state police.
He said officers must be well paid to prevent corruption, and recruitment should be based on merit and reflect diversity in the state.
An elder statesman, Alhaji Usman Bashir, said traditional institutions should be incorporated into state policing to support intelligence gathering.
“State Police should work closely with traditional rulers and community leaders. This will enhance the early warning system and ensure that security decisions are informed by local realities,” he said.
Chidi Omeje, the Executive Director of Citizen Initiative for Security Awareness ( CISA), recommended strong oversight and legislative scrutiny to prevent abuse of power.
“State Police law must provide a Civilian Complaint Board and legislative oversight. Without transparency, state police could lose public trust,” he said
Omeje said the state police law must also clearly state when state police could request federal support and vice versa.
A serving Police Officer, DSP Sunday Clement, said the state police could not operate in isolation, saying it must tap into existing intelligence and operational frameworks under the unified national security doctrine.
He recommended the sharing of surveillance systems, crime databases, and emergency response platforms between state and Federal Police to reduce friction and ensure seamless operations.
For Monday Ajayi, a retired police officer in Adamawa, the establishment of the Independent Oversight Board to tackle cases of overlap between the federal and state police was paramount.
Malam Baba El-Yaqub, a lecturer at Adamawa State University, Mubi, recommended strict adherence to the United Nations (UN) standard of one policeman to 450 citizens, while establishing state police.
“Currently, Nigeria has about 370,000 police officers with an estimated population of over 220 million people. This means there is approximately one police officer for every 650 citizens.
“However, the UN recommendation commonly cited benchmark for effective policing is about one police officer per 450 people.
“So Nigeria is currently below the UN recommended police to population ratio,” he said.
