State Policing: Can it Bring an End to Insecurity in Nigeria? -By Clement Florence Onome

Insecurity is one of the biggest problems facing Nigeria today. Crimes like kidnapping, armed robbery, and terrorism happen every day and many people feel the police are not doing enough to protect them. Because of this there have been call for state policing where each state can have and control its own police force. Nigerians are ready to try state policing since the federal police seem to be failing. Will state policing really be a better system that can totally eliminate insecurity in Nigeria, are there some roadblocks that may render it unworthy to practice? or would it be preferable to continue with the centralised policing system?

Nigeria is facing many different types of insecurity that affect the lives of ordinary citizens everyday. One major problem is terrorism, especially in the Northeast. Groups like Boko Haram and ISWAP have been killing people and burning schools for many years. The fear parents losing their child after sending them to school has been a major concern, because a healthy child that was sent to school maybe a burnt sacrifice the next minute. Secondly, kidnapping has been a major issue eating up Nigerians. These days kidnappers block roads and enter villages to carry people. They ask for ransom before they release them. Even students are not safe in schools and hostels. Another problem that Nigerians have been battling with is armed robbery. Banks/bankers, traders and even families at home no longer feel safe because robbers can strike at anytime like lightening leaving the victims stunned before help arrives. In the Middle Belt, farmers and herders are always fighting over land and water. Many people have died in those fights. In Zamfara, Katsina and Niger, there are bandits who ride motorcycles, steal cattle and attack villages. In Southeast and Southwest, there is cultism in schools, pipeline vandalism, and problems of separatist groups. There is also “Yahoo Yahoo” which is internet fraud. All these things show that Nigeria is not safe and the present Police system is struggling.

The Police System we have now is centralized police. It means all police officers are controlled by one head of police in Abuja. The one in charge is called Inspector General of Police (IGP). He gives order to police commissioners of each state and the commissioners must take order from the IGP before doing anything. The good thing about this system is that all police use the same uniform and follow the same rules everywhere. It helps when a case occurs from one state to another. The bad side is too much. Nigeria has over 200 million people but less than 400,000 police officers. That amount of police officers is too small compared to the population in Nigeria. When there is trouble, police take time to respond because they are waiting for order from Abuja. Also, many police officers are posted to states where they do not know the language or imagine posting and reposting an officer within a timeframe of 3 years, that officer cannot fully understand how to tackle insecurity in that community because he has not been there for long. Citizens do not know them well and don’t trust them or give them information to work with. Because of this, criminals continue to have their way.

Therefore, it will not be a bad idea to consider state policing. State policing means each state will have its own police that the governor will control and the governor will recruit, train, and pay them. The first good thing is that these police will know their state very well. They will speak the language and know the bad areas. So, they can get information easily from the people. Secondly, they can respond fast when there is a problem. They will not wait for Abuja before they act. If armed robbers attack in Lagos, Lagos state police can move at once. Thirdly, states with more crime like Lagos and Borno can employ more police, while peaceful states can employ less. That way police will be enough everywhere. State governments that have money can also buy better cars and weapons for their police. Lastly, it will give jobs to many young people in each state and reduce unemployment.

But state policing also has problems. The first problem is money. Many states cannot even pay salary regularly. If they must now pay police salary, buy cars and guns, some states will fail. So rich states will have strong police while poor states will have weak police. Second problem is abuse of power. Some governors may use state police to fight their enemies or political opponents. This happened before in the old days and people are afraid it will happen again. Thirdly, tribalism can thrive in this system. If police from one state go to another state, they treat them as outsiders. This will badly cause more problems and unrest. Another issue is coordination. Crimes like kidnapping and terrorism do not stay in one state. If each state has its own police with different rules, it will be hard for them to work together. Criminals can just run from one state to another. Finally, we must be careful so that both the state police and federal police will not be fighting each other for power, but their job must be clear.

To round it up, state policing alone cannot end insecurity in Nigeria, but it can help reduce it a lot. The federal police system is good for controlling the whole country, but it is slow and not fast. However, we must solve problems of money, abuse by governors, and tribalism first. The government must make strong laws to control state police so that governors will not misuse them. Federal and state police must also work together when crime crosses state borders. Poor states should be helped with money and training. If all these are done, state policing will make Nigeria safer. If not, insecurity will continue to disturb us.