State Police and the Duplication Trap: Who Will Police the Police?
By: Aishatu Kabu
Yesterday, a friend drew my attention to Barrister Abba Hikima, a Kano-based lawyer and civic activist. I watched his 11-minute video on the creation of state police.
In 11 minutes 34 seconds, he analyzed the unanswered questions many people like us have on state police and its implications for most states in Nigeria, especially the North, which is the epicenter of epidemic poverty. He asked thought-provoking questions that our state lawmakers must pause and reflect on before voting in favor of state police.
One of which is : Who will fund this state police?
The Kano-based lawyer warned that every country with a dual policing system has two things in common: Federal police which are required to focus on serious crimes - felonies - such as murder, trafficking - both human and drugs, kidnapping, terrorism, border crimes, cyber crimes, or any crime against federal institutions. These are the crimes federal police are committed to address.
He also noted that over 80% of everyday crimes Nigeria police force are dealing with fall under state laws - the Penal Code in the North and Criminal Code in the South. These laws are made by state assemblies and assented to by governors. They define what counts as assault, theft, burglary, public nuisance, and other “street crimes”. With state police, it is those same state-defined laws that will be enforced and prosecuted at state level. That’s why the question of control matters: who polices the police when the same people who make the laws also command the force?
Another thing I observed in the video: as regions that have been battling insecurity, banditry, and terrorism for decades, it means we will need high numbers of personnel compared to southern regions. Do we have enough and sufficient resources to fund that as states? With all that has been mentioned, can we trust state governors with state police? Who will police the Governor's police?
Like Hikima, I also believe that our governors will be in haste to make state assemblies vote in favor of state police without minding the consequences, just to impress the President - especially outgoing governors and state lawmakers who have zero burden to bear for whatever consequences state police would have on the states and the region in the future.
Now, if I might ask, what then would be the role of the Nigeria Police Force?
Should their roles still remain fighting federal crimes such as kidnapping, terrorism, human trafficking, drug trafficking, etc? If yes, what then would be the role of NAPTIP, NDLEA, and even the proposed state police?
Let’s examine the responsibility of each of those agencies as per the laws that established them.
By law, the lines are clear: NDLEA* exists under the NDLEA Act to fight drug crime only - trafficking, cultivation, smuggling, and rehabilitation of addicts. NAPTIP was created by the Trafficking in Persons Act to investigate, rescue, and prosecute human trafficking and modern slavery, while protecting victims. *State police*, if approved, is meant to handle state-level street crimes like robbery, assault, and burglary, using local knowledge, while federal crimes such as terrorism, international drug cartels, and treason remain with the Nigeria Police Force and federal agencies.
Now, the problem is not the law. The problem is duplication - today Police, NDLEA, NAPTIP, and NSCDC all arrest the same suspects, but no one knows who truly leads. More uniforms without clear roles will not give us more security. It will give us more confusion.
For instance, yesterday I read a press release from the Borno State Police Command - the federal police service - public relations unit that Borno Police X-Squad intercepted 55 sacks of “Gumm” headed for Ngamboru Ngala, a border community in Borno State. But under Nigerian law, drug trafficking is strictly NDLEA’s job. Human trafficking is NAPTIP’s job. Infrastructure vandalism is NSCDC’s job.
So with all this confusion, the hard question is: What will federal police do then?
If states take street crime, and NDLEA takes drugs, and NAPTIP takes trafficking, and NSCDC takes cables, what then is left for the Nigeria Police?
In Nigeria today, the line is blurred. Police is doing NDLEA’s job. NSCDC is arresting yahoo boys. Everyone is “fighting crime” but no one is coordinating. The danger is simple: More uniforms, more confusion.
So before our state houses of assembly vote “yes”, I’m begging us to pause and ask 3 simple questions:
1. Funding: If we’re struggling with ₦70,000 minimum wage, how then will we pay thousands of new police officers every month?
2. Control: If a governor sends for my arrest because he doesn’t like my Facebook post, who says “no”? Who protects the ordinary citizen who only wants to speak up without fear?
3. Roles: Can we write it clearly so my mother in the village knows: “This one is NDLEA matter, that one is State Police matter”?
Finally, you see, the North doesn’t need more uniforms for politics. The North needs peace. Real peace. The kind where a farmer can go to his farm without fear, a girl can go to school without fear of abduction, and a restaurant can run for 24 hours.
Let’s not rush. Let’s get it right. For the interest of the generation unborn.
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OPINION