MACBAN, Afenifere Seek Safeguards Against Abuse Of State Police

The Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) and the pan-Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere, have urged the National Assembly to incorporate strong safeguards in the proposed constitutional amendment for the creation of state police to prevent potential abuse by governors.

The groups made the call amid ongoing legislative efforts to amend the 1999 Constitution to decentralise policing in response to worsening insecurity.

The National President of MACBAN, Baba Ngelzarma, in an interview with Punch, said decentralising policing could help address the shortage of security personnel across the country.

“As far as the security situation in the country is concerned, there is definitely a shortage of security personnel. It (state police) is the only avenue that can be used to provide an adequate number of security required in the country to combat the criminalities going on,” he said.

However, he warned that recruitment into state police formations must reflect the ethnic and religious diversity of each state to avoid domination by any particular group.

“If recruitment becomes lopsided, instead of solving the problem, it will create more problems. We are in a political era and politicians are going to use it to their own advantage, especially when they want to come back to power. They may use state police against their opponents,” Ngelzarma cautioned.

He called for constitutional provisions empowering the Federal Government to regulate state police operations and urged lawmakers to establish penalties for abuse, as well as a supervisory mechanism under the National Assembly.

Afenifere Backs Reform, Seeks Legal Checks

Similarly, the National Publicity Secretary of Afenifere, Jare Ajayi, said the creation of state police was necessary given the growing security challenges, particularly at the grassroots level.

He noted that many crimes occur locally and are best addressed by locally driven security structures.

“The National Assembly must make provisions in the bill to limit the powers of governors to curb abuse of state police,” Ajayi said.

According to him, citizens should be able to challenge any misuse of state police by governors in court.

“Given human nature, it is possible that some governors may want to abuse the power they have over state police, but there must be provisions in the law that will check the possible abuse,” he added.

APC Chieftain Proposes Constitutional Review

An APC chieftain, Ayodele Arise, also called for extensive public enlightenment on the benefits and drawbacks of state police.

Speaking on Arise TV, Arise suggested that the amendment process could begin with a review of Section 214 of the Constitution to move policing to the Concurrent List.

“I will suggest to the National Assembly that the area of amendment is Section 214, can be done, first by moving policing to the Concurrent List. That will solve the problem; the federal government will have its police, while the states can have their Police. People must understand that the fact that we have State Police doesn’t completely erase the federal police,” he said.

Arise expressed optimism that the amendment could be achieved within months, citing the ruling party’s majority in the National Assembly and control of most states.

He also supported the establishment of oversight mechanisms to prevent governors from using state police to intimidate political opponents.