By  Ebun Sessou & AbdulSalam Muhammad, Kano

It’s abuse of national unity—Oyelese

Elderstateman and retired Commissioner of Police, Alhaji Ibrahim Babankowa has warned that current agitation and attempt by some influential groups to introduce state police against the existing status quo will relegate the country to pre-colonial era where tyranny was  the order of the day.

Also elder Wole Oyelese, a seasoned businessman as well as a former Federal Minister for Power and Steel in Nigeria. In his opinion declared that creation of state police will give room for abuse and molestation of citizens.

Speaking exclusively with Saturday Vanguard in his farm House located along Hadejia Road Kano, the septuagenarian former security goon stressed that Nigerian federation is not ripe for state police maintaining that “any attempt to introduce it will breed  chaos and tyranny”.

Alhaji Ibrahim Babankowa said that idea of a state police will further empower the state Governors to dominate their political environment without recourse to other tenants of democracy pointing out that our experience with the way they handled local government election  is enough warning for the wise.

BABANKOWA…

“Those agitating for state police at this particular time does not meant well for the federation, and I see such move as a conscious attempt to relegate us to pre-colonial era where the feudal lords have total control of state apparatus and decided the fate of supposed equal citizens with impunity and violation of human right”, Ibrahim Babankowa maintained.

The former Police boss explained that the activities of the defunct native authority police during the colonial era are still fresh in the mind adding “it therefore did not come as a surprise to me that Northern governors back out of the arrangement with their southern counterpart”.

“It’s a bad combination to confer absolute power on an African or Institution that tend to see people with opposing views as enemies and will do anything to crush it and more especially in the north where our experience with Native Authority police renowned for their excesses and violation of rights done in line with instructions and directives of the monarch who have total control of apparatus of Government”,

Babankowa said that state Governor have demonstrated in several front that they can not hold their head high in event of competition as manifested in the way and manner they organized local Government elections and run their finances to the detriment of the downtrodden.

“Look at the issues of local Government elections where the party that control the state win a landslide and  it is a pointer that we are heading towards serious crisis if you allow such people that have little or no regard for the rule of law to have a control of police”

Babankowa who faulted General Babangida reasons for supporting the state Police as “hollow and shallow” wondered “why a former the military President that appears to have seen it all and knows the level of sophistication of the society should ordinarily knows that we are not ripe for it”

The Elderstateman however canvass for a regional police with full autonomy in line with the current geo political set up of the country, adding that each geographical zone will be headed by a Deputy Inspector General of Police.

Alhaji Ibrahim Babankowa suggested that under the arrangement, the Inspector General of Police will assume supervisory role, and handles such issues that has direct implications with national interest for maximal effect.

Alhaji Ibrahim Babankowa stated that the regional police set up will no doubt ginger competition among the 6 geo political zone, adding that “you need local content in effective policing of an area with similar expressions, background and culture”.

It’s abuse of national unity—Oyelese

Elder Wole Oyelese, a seasoned businessman as well as a former Federal Minister for Power and Steel in Nigeria. In his opinion declared that creation of state police will give room for abuse and molestation of citizens.

Historically, we have seen the evil in the state police. We should not forget that the primary function of the police is to maintain law and order but you now see that situation can be abused. Right now, we have the Nigerian police responsible to the IG who is responsible to the minster of police affairs who in turn is responsible to the president in case of any problem. But, when there is state police, the box stop on the table of the governor. I wouldn’t what designation they would give to the commissioner of police, perhaps, he will become the another IG of the state who will be responsible to the Governor.

Wole Oyelese

I wouldn’t how they will be able to maintain sanity. And that is one of the terrible evils because if the Governor is not the kind of individual who is broad minded, is not the kind of individual who knows the implication of the state police in the right way, there might be chaos because the state police will be turned into hurdling dog against the opposition party. I remember in those days when we had the local government police in the Western part of Nigeria and police will come and knock on your door in the morning and accuse you of stealing some blanks which probably they would have put there. In a nutshell, the creation of state police will give room for abuse.

But, if we will have a state police that is well utilised, equipped, remunerated it can help to contain the problem of crime. They will be readily available because they know they are responsible to the governor.

Personally, I think that rather than have a state police, we need to admit that Nigeria is under-policed. In the advance, countries especially in New York, police are so visible. No matter where you go through in New York, you will find a police almost everywhere. I want to believe that the ratio of the citizens to the police in Nigeria is rather too high.

I think, it should be brought down. And that will entail employing more people preferably graduates. They are so many unemployed graduates in the country who can be trained as policemen. Training them will become easier and less expensive.

And then, equip them properly, therefore eliminating the reasons why state government want the creation of state police. And what the governor will want to achieve with the creation of state police would have been achieved without any fear of abuse.

The view is that the police are people who know the terrain of the state and locality?

So, if they are going to employ more people, then it is necessary to employ the people within the state. There is something called federal character which entails making sure that every state in the country has its own share of appointment. So, if they want to employ policemen, they should make sure that they are graduates from every state. People who will know the terrain and I think, the problem of knowing or not knowing the terrain who have been eliminated.

The reason why we have Nigerian police is because of that the country is homogenous and we wouldn’t want a sectional policy to be employed. Police should not be under the control of the governor who can abuse it but they will be responsible to their IG who can discipline them. It will interest to you that, a policeman who is not known in a community will achieve more in terms of investigation a particular case in an area. I think, creation of state police is counter productive.

Nigeria is under policed, there is need to employ more credible people, train, equip them well.

And the problem of agitating for state police will be become unnecessary. Many of the governors want state police because of the coercive power of the police which they can use to torment the opposition. And they will get away with a lots of crime especially during elections.