The Possibility Of State Police

By Akin Akinkuotu Esq. 

IT IS no gainsaying that our country has a number of daunting security challenges for which our security operatives appear to be incapable of handling to our satisfaction.   With the insurgence of Boko Haram and the ever present armed robbery, kidnapping, assassination and vandalism, it is as if our Nation is under the siege of operatives in the pit of hell.

Various personalities and experts have advanced suggestions on how we can wriggle out of this security quagmire but it appears we have not been able to get it right on the issue of the best way out.

IGP M.D Abubakar

As with all forms of ailment affecting an individual or society, the starting point should be correct diagnosis of the problem in order to ascertain the root cause.

What are the causes of these crimes in Nigeria? To my mind, there are so many things that may have engendered crime. One problem is the issue of unemployed youths. This is another way of saying there is poverty in Nigeria.

Another issue is that it appears crime pays in Nigeria. Statistics based on media reports indicate that when, for example, armed robbery occurs 10 times, hardly are our security systems able to mobilize effective challenge against the hoodlums once. This, in business terms, means there is 90 percent possibility of success each time robbers or other criminals launch out.

Also, there is the view that police-community ratio is too low for effectiveness.

It is in this vein that the Governors Forum recently renewed the call for the establishment of State Police.

While it has been correctly argued that this is the practice in civilized climes, the antecedents of some of our political office holders make the option of State Police terrifying.

However, there is a way out under the Police Act, which is one of the extant Laws of the Federation of Nigeria.

Section 18 of the Police Act provides:

(1)                  Any person (including any government department) who desires to avail himself of the services of one or more police officers for the protection of property owned or controlled by him may make application therefor to the Inspector-General, stating the nature and situation of the property in question and giving such other particulars as the Inspector-General may require.

(2)                  On an application under the foregoing subsection the Inspector-General may, with the approval of the President, direct the appropriate authority to appoint as supernumerary police officers in the Force such number of persons as the Inspector-General thinks requisite for the protection of the property to which the application relates.

(3)                  Every supernumerary police officer appointed under this Section ---

(a)                                  Shall be appointed in respect of the area of the police province or, where there is no police province, the police district or police division in which the property which he is to protect is situated;

(b)                                  shall be employed exclusively on duties connected with the protection of that property;

(c)                                  shall, in the police area in respect of which he is appointed and in any police area adjacent thereto, but not elsewhere, have the powers, privileges and immunities of a police officer; and

(d)                                  subject to the restrictions imposed by paragraphs (b) and (c) of this subsection and to the provisions of Section 22 of this Act, shall be a member of the Force for all purposes and shall accordingly be subject to the provisions of this Act and in particular the provisions thereof relating to discipline.

(4)                  Where any supernumerary police officer is appointed under this Section, the person availing himself of the services of that officer shall pay to the Accountant-General ---

(a)                                  on the enlistment of the officer, the full cost of the officer’s uniform; and

(b)                                  quarterly in advance, a sum equal to the aggregate of the amount of the officer’s pay for the quarter in question and such additional amounts as the Inspector-General may direct to be paid in respect of the maintenance of the officer during that quarter;

and any sum payable to the Accountant-General under this subsection which is not duly paid may be recovered in a summary manner before a Magistrate on the complaint of any superior police officer:

     Provided that this subsection shall not apply in the case of an appointment made on the application of a department of the Government of the Federation.

(5)                  Where the person availing himself of the services of any supernumerary police officer appointed under this section desires the services of that officer to be discontinued, he must give not less than two months’ notice in writing to that effect, in the case of an officer appointed in respect of a police area within that part of Lagos State formerly known as the Federal territory, to the Inspector-General or, in the case of an officer appointed in respect of a police area within a State, to the Commissioner of Police of that State; and on the expiration of such notice the services of the supernumerary police officer in question shall be withdrawn.

Section 20 continues in somewhat similar vein:

(1)                  If at any time the President is satisfied, as regards any police area, that it is necessary in the public interest for supernumerary police officers to be employed in that area, he may authorize the appropriate authority to appoint persons as supernumerary police officers in the Force under and in accordance with the authorization.

(2)                  Every authorization under this section shall be in writing and shall specify the police area to which it relates and the maximum number of supernumerary police officers who may be appointed under that authorization.

Another variant of these provisions is contained in Part X of the Police Act. This part is about the appointment of Special Constables.

In this regard, Section 49 of the Police Act provides:

(1)          There shall continue to be a Nigeria Special Constabulary (in this Act called “the special constabulary”).

(2)          The special constabulary shall be, and deemed always to have been, part of the Nigeria Police Force, and accordingly references in this Act to the Police Force established under this Act shall, subject to the provisions of this Act, include, and be deemed always to have included, references to the special constabulary.

(3)          The special constabulary shall consist of ---

(a)                                  special constables appointed in normal circumstances under Section 50 of this Act; and

(b)                                  such emergency special constables as may be appointed from time to time under Section 4 of this Act.

Section 4 of the Police Act referred to above simply states the duties of the Nigeria Police as it provides thus:

The Police shall be employed for the prevention and detection of crime, the apprehension of offenders, the preservation of law and order, the protection of life and property and due enforcement of all laws and regulations with which they are directly charged, and shall perform such military duties within or without Nigeria as may be required by them by, or under the authority of, this or any other Act.

The implication of these provisions, to my mind, is that if there is sincerity of purpose, appointment of police officers for the use of any State Government could be accommodated under the extant Law without the need for polarizing our Nation further by the clamour for State Police.