Governors might hijack state police- Falana
By Innocent Raphael
As discussions regarding state police gain traction, human rights lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN) has stressed the need for legal safeguards to prevent governors from leveraging police resources to suppress political adversaries.
Speaking on Channels Television’s “Inside Sources With Laolu Akande,” Falana emphasized the decentralization of policing in Nigeria, highlighting the prevalence of private security outfits in residential areas armed with various weapons.
Falana declared his support for the concept of state police but emphasized the importance of clearly delineated jurisdictions to avoid conflicts and ensure the focus remains on serving the people rather than political interests.
He argued that while a federal police force isn’t inherently contrary to federalism, its effectiveness hinges on proper management.
“Unfortunately, our governors have allowed the Nigeria Police Force to become the Federal Government Police Force hence the demand for state police.
“Under Section 216 of the Constitution, the President of the Republic cannot appoint or remove an Inspector General of Police without consulting the Nigeria Police Council.”
“In that 39-member body, 36 of them are chief executives of states. It’s a council where the members should discuss the number of police personnel should be in every state, how the police should be funded and how the police should be managed and administered. But what has happened?”
He highlighted that while other security councils convene regularly in the country, the Nigeria Police Council remained inactive.
Underscoring the importance of adhering to constitutional provisions, he stated that while having both federal and state police is common in federations, it was necessary to refine policies before implementing state police to ensure the people’s trust and confidence.
“There are governors in Nigeria that will turn state police into an instrument of oppression because even right now, the federal police is turned into an instrument of oppression,” he alleged.
Falana stated that in a federation, each level of government should have the authority to enforce its laws with its own security forces.
He however, pointed out that it was crucial to ensure that there’s no abuse of power or oppression of political rivals, whether by federal, state, or local law enforcement agencies.
“Right now, we deceive ourselves, we already have decentralisation of police; every community, every estate all have their own private security arrangement and majority of them are armed,” he added.
