 |
The governors in separate interviews with SUNDAY PUNCH said the creation of state police was the ‘panacea for the security crises in the country.’
According to them, recent events have shown that the country is too vast for the Nigeria Police Force that is based in Abuja to effectively manage.
One of the prime movers, Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State, told SUNDAY PUNCH on Friday that the establishment of state police had become a necessary tool for the maintenance of peace and order in the society.
Speaking through his Commissioner for Information and Communication, Mr. Aniekan Umanah, Akpabio said, “The government of Akwa Ibom State has been calling for the creation of state police where the governor will have the power to hire and fire.
“The country is too vast to manage by a single apparatus from Abuja. State governments should be given the right to establish their own police. In the United States they have the municipal police which work in tandem with the federal police.”
Umanah stated that there was no way centrally-controlled security operatives could be as effective as state policemen. “Boko Haram would not have been an issue if state police had been created. We would have known the areas the unscrupulous elements were operating from,” he said.
SUNDAY PUNCH gathered that in Anambra State, the state government was already drawing up a constitution amendment proposal to accommodate the creation of a state police force.
The Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, Mr. Maja Umeh, said, “The government’s position on state police will be contained in a constitutional amendment proposal it is drawing up. You will see it when it comes out.”
In Akure, Ondo State Governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, said nothing was too much to protect Nigerians from the deadly Boko Haram sect. Mimiko told SUNDAY PUNCH that he was willing to champion the cause for the creation of a state police and to convince his fellow governors and President Goodluck Jonathan to support the idea.
The Commissioner for Information and Strategy in the state, Mr. Kayode Akinmade, told our correspondent that Mimiko was pushing for the creation of state police because of his belief that the police would be more efficient and effective if decentralised.
“The governor believes that the creation of a state police force would be a very effective way to put the Boko Haram sect in check. The governor will continue to demand its creation until the request is approved by the Federal Government,” he said.
Likewise, the Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, who described the activities of Boko Haram as ‘deadly terrorism’ told SUNDAY PUNCH that the creation of state police was necessary to stop the sect.
The Commissioner for Information in the state, Mr. Funmi Afuye, said state police had become unavoidable in the face of the prevailing insecurity in the country.
He said, “My governor is in support of the creation of state police. This is what we have been calling for since. This, among other issues, would definitely be what Nigerians would talk about at the sovereign national conference we are canvassing for.”
Governor Patrick Yakowa of Kaduna State had also called for the establishment of state police during the recently concluded Northern Peace Conference organised by the Arewa Consultative Forum.
Yakowa said it was frustrating for state governors to deal with communal violence and that a state-owned police force would be in a better place to deal with such crises before they get out of hand.
He said, “Throughout this country, we have only one police force. Because of the size of this country and the size of our police force, it poses a great challenge and I am talking from experience.
“When violence erupts in one area, you have to get in touch with the Commissioner of Police who will in turn get in touch with the Inspector-General of Police, who will then arrange for additional police support from other state formations. Before that happens, only God knows the magnitude of damage that would have been done.
“Of course, the governor takes the blame because he will be accused of not responding on time to the situation. Unfortunately, people don’t know that the governor is not in charge because he has to go through a channel.”
The Bayelsa State government also holds the same position as Ekiti. According to the Commissioner for Information in the state, Mr. Nathan Egba, the decentralisation of the police system is an effective means of tackling the rising insecurity in the country.
Egba, who made the position of the government on state police known to our correspondent in Yenagoa, said all the advanced countries thrived on state and city police.
He said, “The state government will not necessarily oppose the idea if it comes up. From our own experience with Famou Tangbei, we can say that having a state police is a good idea. Every democracy across the world practises the same thing.
“In the United Kingdom, they don’t even have a state police. What they have is city police. Every city has its own police. That is why in London, you have the Metropolitan Police with a commissioner who is the head of the force in the city.
“The merits of a state police clearly outweigh the demerits. But because we are used to power coming from the centre in all spheres of our lives, that is why people find it difficult to identify with the idea.”
In Oyo, Governor Abiola Ajimobi threw his weight behind the creation of state police but said it needed constitutional backing.
The Special Adviser to the governor on Media, Dr. Festus Adedayo, said, “As much as the government would want to have a state police, it has to be backed by law but the Federal Government is not ready to give room for it.”
However, President Goodluck Jonathan’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, told our correspondent that notwithstanding the bombings that had plagued the country, his principal’s opposition to the creation of state police had not changed.
Abati recalled the concern raised by the President during the recent meeting of the Nigeria Inter-Religious Council in Ilorin, Kwara State, that if created, state police could be politicised.
The presidential spokesman added that the country’s security challenges were being dealt with.
Abati said every successive government in the country had been confronted with one security challenge or the other in the beginning.
He said, “In the beginning of Obasanjo’s administration, it was the Sharia crisis but the administration overcame it. For the Yar’Adua’s administration, the challenge was from the Niger Delta, the administration later stabilised. Now it is Boko Haram, we shall get over it.
“Have Nigerians ever paused to ponder on why every administration has always been welcomed by one security challenge or the other?”
still in need of some information? search this site:
LOVE THE ARTICLE ABOVE?
Receive Updates: subscribe to Imo Herald in a reader or sign up for Free Email Updates
No comments:
Post a Comment