Michael Aondoakaa, a former attorney-general and Minister of Justice, says politicians must be prevented from populating state police formations with their loyalists.
The former attorney-general of the federation said federal
legislation on state police should be enacted to regulate recruitment and arms
procurement.
Speaking on Arise TV on Monday, Aondoakaa said the federal
government should oversee such aspects.
“If the federal government does create a law regulating
state police, even if they enact it, it will be inoperative. There are key
areas I would like to observe that must be taken care of: the issue of
recruitment, to avoid politicians bringing touts to become state police
officers,” Aondoakaa said.
“And that should be handled in a manner that politicians are
not allowed to come in and bring people who are not worthy to be police
officers.”
Aondoakaa said the procurement of arms and ammunition should
be conducted through the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) to
regulate and monitor the numbers of firearms and equipment in states.
“The second issue is the issue of procurement of ammunition;
you cannot allow 36 states and the FCT to go buy equipment directly from the
international market to arm their policemen,” he said.
“There should be a level of control, and the requirement for
procurement of equipment and paramilitary equipment should be controlled,
possibly subject to the legal framework, [and] should be through the national
security adviser.
“So that we can know which type of arms went to which state.
If the entire 36 states go to the market and import arms for their state
police, there would be a lot of confusion.”
He added that apprehension over possible abuses should not
prevent Nigeria from addressing its policing challenges.
The ex-minister said the federal and state governments
should work together to establish an effective legal framework for the
operation of state police.
Aondoakaa also called for magistrates to be granted
judicial-officer status to ensure independent regulation of the activities of
state police in rural communities.
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