The Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Mr Abdulrazak Namdas, has said the decentralisation of the police structure in Nigeria will be part of the next amendments to be made to the Constitution.Namdas, in an interview with our correspondent, said state or community police system would be listed by the 9th National Assembly in its next Constitution review.
The House’ spokesman dismissed fears that governors would be empowered to deploy the police against political opponents in their respective states, stating that the amendment could be done to restrict their influence.
“Even with the laws, we can put some in place such that governors will not easily manipulate or use the state police against citizens anyhow,” he said.
The lawmaker said it was time for Nigerians to choose between having state police that could end security crises and allowing more lives and properties to be lost under the current federal structure.
He said, “I am for state police. Initially, I was against it because I felt political office holders like governors could use them to muzzle the opposition and harass people. But now, if you look at the spate of insecurity in this country, ranging from kidnapping, insurgency, cattle rustling to many others, it is obvious that we need this state police. The Nigeria Police Force is really under-staffed.
“If you are to source your security men locally, they really know all the nooks and crannies of the area, they speak the same language, they know the hideouts of criminals – it will be easy for them to tackle it. With this level of unemployment, if we create state police, some of these youths who are not gainfully employed and are easily sourced to join gangsters can be used and proactively engaged. They will not have the time to think of joining gangs. That will also reduce the number of criminals that we are likely to have. And these are youths who know the terrains so well, they will help.
“So, we have to look for the lesser evil. Do we want to have people killed daily because we don’t want a state governor to manipulate the system? No, we should have state police who will have the know-how.”
The House’ spokesman dismissed fears that governors would be empowered to deploy the police against political opponents in their respective states, stating that the amendment could be done to restrict their influence.
“Even with the laws, we can put some in place such that governors will not easily manipulate or use the state police against citizens anyhow,” he said.
The lawmaker said it was time for Nigerians to choose between having state police that could end security crises and allowing more lives and properties to be lost under the current federal structure.
He said, “I am for state police. Initially, I was against it because I felt political office holders like governors could use them to muzzle the opposition and harass people. But now, if you look at the spate of insecurity in this country, ranging from kidnapping, insurgency, cattle rustling to many others, it is obvious that we need this state police. The Nigeria Police Force is really under-staffed.
“If you are to source your security men locally, they really know all the nooks and crannies of the area, they speak the same language, they know the hideouts of criminals – it will be easy for them to tackle it. With this level of unemployment, if we create state police, some of these youths who are not gainfully employed and are easily sourced to join gangsters can be used and proactively engaged. They will not have the time to think of joining gangs. That will also reduce the number of criminals that we are likely to have. And these are youths who know the terrains so well, they will help.
“So, we have to look for the lesser evil. Do we want to have people killed daily because we don’t want a state governor to manipulate the system? No, we should have state police who will have the know-how.”
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