By Ike Ekweremadu
The National Security Summit initiated by the Senate kicked-off on
Thursday, February 8, 2018 with a clear pro-state police/decentralised policing
disposition by the presidency.
In a speech delivered on his behalf by Vice
President Yemi Osinbajo, President Muhammadu Buhari said: “The nature of our
security challenges is complex. Securing Nigeria ’s over 923,768 square
kilometres and its 180 million people requires far more men and materials than
we have at the moment. It also requires a continual re-engineering of our
security architecture and strategies…. We cannot realistically police a country
the size of Nigeria
centrally from Abuja . State police and other community policing methods are clearly the way to go.”
This is a cheery paradigm shift coming from the presidency and recently from
the Governors Forum.
For years, some of us have been like a lone
voice crying in the wilderness about the unsuitableness of a unitary police
system for our federal system. I have been at the helms of the amendment of the
1999 Constitution for a couple of years. Decentralised policing is one of the
perennially proposed amendments that consistently fail to garner the needed
support. However, Nigeria
continues to pay dearly for it.
Some always argue thatNigeria
is not mature for state police/decentralised policing. But, as my
friend and former colleague, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba (SAN), once argued, it
is not a question of maturity, but a question of the federal system we opted
for. If you choose to travel in a car, you just have to use the road, not rail.
If you get a flight ticket, you have to fly.
Some always argue that
Ironically, Nigeria
operated decentralised policing from the colonial period up to the fall of the First Republic
in 1966. The Native Authority Ordinance No. 4, 1916 vested the responsibility
of maintaining law and order in the Native Authorities. It was further enhanced
by the Protectorate Laws (Enforcement) Ordinance No. 15, 1924.
A Nigeria Police Force, with nationwide jurisdiction,
only came into being on April 1, 1930, but existed side by side with
sub-national police organisations. The 1960 Constitution recognised the Local
Government Police in Western Nigeria , Sheriffs
and Court Messengers in Eastern Region, the Native Authority Police in the
Northern Region.
A return to the right system has, however, been inhibited by fear: possible misuse by the governors, serving as a secession army, funding, corruption, and roles/jurisdictional conflict. But, the questions are: Is state police mandatory for states? Is the current police system devoid of corruption and political abuses? Have the governors jailed all their opponents, using the state judiciary? What we need is a decentralised police system where every layer of government can set up the policing that addresses its needs, while also ensuring that there are legal valves guarding against our fears. This is the practice in other federal jurisdictions. InCanada , there
is no express mention of the establishment of the police in the
Constitution.
A return to the right system has, however, been inhibited by fear: possible misuse by the governors, serving as a secession army, funding, corruption, and roles/jurisdictional conflict. But, the questions are: Is state police mandatory for states? Is the current police system devoid of corruption and political abuses? Have the governors jailed all their opponents, using the state judiciary? What we need is a decentralised police system where every layer of government can set up the policing that addresses its needs, while also ensuring that there are legal valves guarding against our fears. This is the practice in other federal jurisdictions. In
However, there is the provincial
responsibility for the administration of justice. Thus, beside the federal
police – Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) – the Provinces maintain
independent police and establish laws that regulate their service and
structure. Ontario and Quebec have the Ontario Provincial Police
and Surete du Quebec, respectively.
The remaining Provinces contract out most/all
of their provincial law enforcement responsibilities to the RCMP. Some
Provinces delegate some policing responsibilities to their municipalities,
while big cities like Toronto and York have their own
police service.
TheUnited States
operates several security agencies at the federal level, but the states and
even some municipalities maintain their police service, independent of the
Federal Government. Legislations on policing are generally contained in state
laws and regulations. The federal system in Australia ensures that federating
units are responsible for policing within their respective jurisdictions.
The
The Commissioner of Police in the state may be
removed by the Governor in Council, but on a recommendation by the Chairperson
of the Crime and Misconduct Commission or on an address from the Legislative
Assembly to that effect Section 144 of the Constitution of Brazil establishes
five distinct police bodies – Federal Police, Federal Highway Police, The
Federal Railway Police, The State Military Police and Fire Brigade and State
Civil Police.
The first three are affiliated to the federal
authorities and are concerned with federal laws. The last two are subordinated
to state governments, enforcing state legislations only. However, the
state police forces are under the supervision of the Secretariat for Public
Security, the state government agency responsible for supervising police
activities in the state. The Secretariat for Public Security itself is
subordinate to the National Council of Public Security, the federal body
responsible for security matters.
The first step is to amend Sections 214 and
215 of the 1999 Constitution, which brings the police under the exclusive
control of the Federal Government. Police should be removed from item 45
of Part 1 of the Second Schedule of the 1999 Constitution and moved to the
Concurrent List, Part 2 of the Second Schedule to allow states to establish
State Police Service under approved guidelines.
The National Assembly should provide the
framework for the establishment, structure and powers of the state police. The
powers of the governors should be limited to making policing policies and
should not extend to the operational use and control.
Just like the National Judicial Council, NJC,
the Federal Police Service Commission should exercise a level of oversight over
the activities of the state police such as maintaining common facilities for
all Police Services in the country, including training, criminal intelligence
data bases, forensic laboratories and rendering assistance to State Police
Services in specialised areas like behavioural analysis, counter terrorism,
etc.
Others include supervising State Police
Services through a system of inspectorates and certification such as
supervision of recruitment, training, supervision of standards, and annual
certification of every State Police Service (which should be a statutory
prerequisite for continued functioning of a State Police Service).
The State House of Assembly may enact laws
regulating state police, but such laws must be in consonance with
Constitutional provisions and federal legislations regarding policing. The
National Assembly, in conferring powers on the state police, should clearly
define jurisdictional boundaries for law enforcement agencies. There should be
caution in the areas of appointment and removal of the Commissioner of Police,
the funding of the police and the general control of the police being, being
areas, which may allow the political class to manipulate the police machinery.
For this reason, there should be established a body to be known as “State Police Service Commission” for all the states of the federation. Such body should comprise a representative of the executive to be appointed by the governor, representative of the Federal Government to be appointed by the Police Service Commission, two independent experts in security matters to be appointed by the Governor (subject to confirmation by the State House of Assembly), and a representative each of the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress to be appointed by the Chairman of the state branch.
For this reason, there should be established a body to be known as “State Police Service Commission” for all the states of the federation. Such body should comprise a representative of the executive to be appointed by the governor, representative of the Federal Government to be appointed by the Police Service Commission, two independent experts in security matters to be appointed by the Governor (subject to confirmation by the State House of Assembly), and a representative each of the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress to be appointed by the Chairman of the state branch.
Others are a retired police officer not below
the rank of Assistant Commissioner of Police, representative of the Nigerian
Bar Association to be appointed by the Chairman of the state branch,
representative of the Nigerian Union of Journalists to be appointed by the
Chairman of the state branch, and representatives of the Christian Association
of Nigeria, Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, and representatives
of other relevant civil organizations, as the case may be. The body should be
responsible for the recruitment, appointment and removal of the members of the
state police force.
While the Federal Police Service Commission functions like the National Judicial Council in the disciplining of Commissioners of the state police service, the State Police Service Commission will deal with those of the others levels of officers below the Commissioner. Further functions and powers of the Commission should be specified either in the Constitution or an Act of the National Assembly.
While the Federal Police Service Commission functions like the National Judicial Council in the disciplining of Commissioners of the state police service, the State Police Service Commission will deal with those of the others levels of officers below the Commissioner. Further functions and powers of the Commission should be specified either in the Constitution or an Act of the National Assembly.
*Ekweremadu
is the Deputy President of the Senate.
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