After a closed door meeting, a delegation of former Inspector Generals of Police have advised the president against approving the creation of state police has been clamoured by Nigerians.
The presidential committee on the re-organisation of the Nigerian Police Force chaired by former Deputy Inspector-General of Police, Parry Osayande also yesterday while submitting its report recommended the scrapping of the Ministry of Police Affairs, more financial autonomy for the Nigerian Police Force, reform of the National Police Council and jettisoning of the plans to create state police.
In their address to Jonathan signed by Muhammadu Yusuf, Sunday Adewusi, Aliyu Atta, Ibrahim Coomasie, Musiliu Smith, Tafa Balogun, Sunday Ehindero, Mike Okiro, and Jimeta, the former IGs “recalled that the military attempted introducing the localisation of police officers in their states of origin and the exercise boomeranged and failed.
“The establishment of state police will bring us back to the days of ethnic militias where the OPC, MASSOB, Egbesu, ECOMOG and Yankalare held sway.
“Even in developed democracies such as the United Kingdom and the United States of America that are operating state and local police, they are now tilting towards a more centralised national police in dealing with contemporary challenges like terrorism and cybercrime.
“Furthermore, putting into consideration the political climate operating in our country, a state police would only be a tool in the hands of political leaders at state levels.”
Jimeta explained to reporters afterwards: “We don’t support state police because some of us have lived through the history of this country to have experienced the sort of horrible things that had happened when various police forces were in the hands of various people in this country.
“At that time, people from other parts of the country could not freely go to other parts of the country for trade, political campaigns or any other thing which gave them the right to exercise their rights of citizenship of this country.
“The local police forces were bastardised, they were used for all sorts of heinous things, so at the last London conference where it was decided to create one single police force for the country, it was done among other things for the security of the minority people of Nigeria wherever they happen to be.”
Going down memory lane, Jimeta said: “People have forgotten where we came from; when Zik could not go to Katsina or Maiduguri to campaign, when Ahmadu Bello could not go to Enugu or Lagos, when Akintola, Awolowo could not go to some parts of the country.
“In order to put all these things behind us, our founding fathers in the Constitution entrenched one Federal Force that will be responsible for the rights given to the citizens of this country wherever they happen to be.
“We oppose fractionalisation of the police in the enforcement of laws of this country; wherever you happen to be in Nigeria there should be a federal agency that will guarantee your rights – indigene or non-indigene”