Nigeria: imminent Decentralization of police system

Experts believe that it is time to create ‘State’ or ‘Regional’ police that will coexist with Federal Police.

One of the arguments of pro restructuring in Nigeria as the country prepares for the 2019 presidential election is the promotion of the idea of state police, a situation where every state of the country is allowed to operate its own police for the effective maintenance of law, order and security within communities. The argument is backed with facts that security within communities and state are best guaranteed by indigenes of the states who, by the virtue of birth, language, cultural, religious and social factors, understand the terrain and people living in their environment.

The pressure to decentralize the police system is coming at a time when some state governors have taken upon themselves to set up ‘state police’ through the back door following the recent endless killings and different crime waves across the country.

River state Governor, Nyesom Wike has created the “River State Neighborhood Safety Corps” law No. 8 of 2018 and the “River State Secret Cult and Similar Activities” law no. 6 of 2018 in order to improve the security of communities in the state.

Similarly, Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, has created its own ‘state police’ by signing a law setting up a security outfit empowered to carry Dane guns and light weapons to arrest and deal with criminal elements in the state.

Many other states have officially recognized vigilante groups that coexist with the Nigerian Police.

The opposition to a state police has persistently maintained that with the volatile nature of Nigeria’s politics, state police could be used by the state governors and politicians as instruments of witch-hunting political opponents.

While this fears maybe genuine, a lot of recent developments in the country at the state level have overtaken it.

Clearly they are instances where these laws from regional governors are in conflict with the constitution of Nigeria. There is thus growing pressure on law makers to look into the situation at the national assembly and by the Federal government in order to avoid conflicts of interest capable of setting the country on fire, especially when youths are armed by state laws at a time the country is approaching a crucial election in 2019.

In the meantime calls continue to reach the legislature to critically examine these vital issues in the ongoing constitutional review, trash out fishy points and include it in the nation’s law book.