Falana also said the jurisdictions of state police must be clearly defined to prevent inter-rivalry and clashes between security agencies
By Kehinde Okeowo
Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana has made a case for the formulation of legislations that will stop state governors from using state police to oppress perceived political enemies.
He made the proposition while featuring on a Channels Television’s programme on Friday.
According to popular legal luminary, there must be proper guarantees under the law to prevent situations where governors abuse police apparatus under them.
Falana went on to say the jurisdictions of state police must be clearly defined to prevent inter-rivalry and more clashes between security agencies, adding that state police must be a people-police service and not a government-centred one.
He also argued that policing has been decentralized in the country as residential estates and communities have private security outfits, with personnel armed with different weapons guarding inhabitants of such communities.
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He further said the success of the country’s policing system depends on its management.
Speaking during the interview, Falana said: “Unfortunately, our governors have allowed the Nigeria Police Force to become the Federal Government Police Force hence the demand for state police.
“Under Section 216 of the Constitution, the President of the Republic cannot appoint or remove an Inspector General of Police without consulting the Nigeria Police Council,” he added.
The Ekiti State-born SAN added that even though there are other regular security council meetings in the country, the Nigeria Police Council has not been meeting.
“We must go back to the provisions of the Constitution. It’s not unusual in a federation to have federal government police and state police but again, we have to go back to the drawing table and finetune our policies before we have state police. We must assure our people,” he further said.
TheNiche had earlier reported that the Federal government is currently considering propositions to establish “state police” as a way of curbing the menacing trend of kidnapping, banditry and sundry crimes in the country.