A former president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Olisa Agbakoba on Monday said the creation of state police is necessary in order to address the security issues in the country.
Agbakoba made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos while reacting to the renewed clamor for the creation of state police over killings in the country.
He said the centrally-controlled police could not provide adequate security cover for the country, pointing out that state police would strengthen security.
Agbakoba said, “The new momentum for state police is a welcome development. The creation of state police at this critical time is more than necessary.
“You see, I feel sorry for the Inspector-General of Police who have to sit down in Abuja and monitor the entire criminal justice system in Nigeria.
“It is not just possible. There is nowhere in the world where you have the kind of the Nigerian policing structure where everything is controlled from the center.
“The typical thing is that not only you need the state police to provide adequate security, you also need local government police. Creation of state police was part of what had been widely discussed in the larger issue of restructuring.
“The broader issue in the discussion was devolution of powers from Federal Government to States, the need for the central government to devolve powers to the states to allow the latter run their affairs efficiently, including security.”
On whether state police would not be abused by governors to fight opposition, Agbakoba said, “Once the policing option is anchored on the right constitutional provisions to guard against abuse, state police would operate efficiently.
“What we need to do is just introduce into the constitution, regulations that would not allow governors to control the police.
“The governors will not have authority to appoint or dismiss police heads. All these will be guaranteed.
“After all, the judiciary is functioning independently. It is functioning because there is the National Judicial Council in the constitution performing the functions of judicial policies, appointments, dismissals and retirements.”
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