Why Nigeria needs state police – SAN

By  Joseph Erunke

A legal luminary, Mr Okon Efut, SAN, says the call for of state police in Nigeria was not debatable, saying the existence of state governments, Houses of Assembly, state universities, state fire service, state civil service commission and state high court among other state institutions calls for the establishment of state police.

The Senior Advocate of Nigeria also condemned what he called “rampant cases of extra-judicial killings” in the country, saying no criminal act, no matter how grievous or horrendous, should attract instant punishment in the hands of those who witness the perpetration of the act.

“Such acts should only give rise to an investigation, prosecution and possibly conviction and sentence. The judicial process should not be short-circuited or usurped under any guise or cloak”, he noted.

Speaking at a round-table discussion in Abuja, on the topic, “is Nigeria ripe for a state police?”, organized by Patriots for New Nigeria Initiative, PNNI, Efut noted that the capacity of the Nigeria Police to carry out detection, prevention, investigation and prosecution of serious and complex criminal cases was being over-stretched.