Structures for state police already exist

SOMETIME, ago a former Director-General of the defunct National Security Organisation, Umaru Shinkafi, proffered what in my opinion is one of the most far-reaching solutions to the apparent intractable security challenges facing Nigeria at this present time, viz: the creation of state police (akin to the State National Guards of the United States, I should add).

Shinkafi’s argument is watershed: police officers who are required to serve in their states and hometowns of origin make committed and veritable intelligence assets. This is an irrefutable fact in the sense that a man “knows his backyard” better than strangers.

I must also add here that these police officers would experience a shorter economic adjustment, and this makes for job satisfaction overall. We are dealing with a uniquely Nigerian perspective where attachments and bonds to hometowns are as strong as ever.

Years ago, in Zamfara State, about 13 people were killed and subsequently cremated by marauding armed robbers. Like the then President Goodluck Jonathan was wont to say, the people who perpetrated this heinous crime are “not spirits and they live among us.” Apprehending them requires extensive local knowledge that would surely befuddle an investigating police officer from, say, Benue State.

Luckily, the structures befitting state police already exists in nearly all the states of Nigeria, including the Federal Capital Territory. Benue State presents a very good case study: in Idomaland, the uniformed vigilante system called “òde” is an integral part of any community at the village and district levels.

The command structure of this system is enviably hierarchical with a well-defined chain of command, and a well-developed check-and-balance routine. Interestingly, members of this òde system are usually unpaid volunteers. Amazingly, the federal security system personnel, who are salaried, cannot match the òde members for sheer enthusiasm in carrying out their assigned functions.

Sunday Jonah

Minna, Niger State.