Reps approve bill to create state police

The House of Representatives has passed for second reading, a bill seeking to amend the 1999 Constitution to allow creation of state police and legalise regional security outfits. The current police system will be decentralised by moving police from the Exclusive Legislative List to the Concurrent List.
Chairman of the House Committee on Judiciary, Onofiok Luke, who sponsored the bill, said that the bill seeks to alter the Constitution “to provide for state police and other state government security services to enhance security and preservation of lives and properties in Nigeria.”
The bill especially proposes an amendment to Section 197(1) by inserting new Paragraphs ‘e’ and ‘f’ to provide for ‘State Police Council’ and ‘State Police Service Commission,’ respectively.
The National Assembly may make laws for the establishment of the federal police and other federal government security services; “(32) A House of Assembly may make laws for the establishment of state police and other state government security services.”
The Third Schedule to the Constitution will also be altered by inserting new Paragraphs 9 to 12
The new paragraphs read, “(9) A State Police Council shall comprise the following members: (a) the governor, who shall be the chairman; (b) the chairman of the State Police Service Commission; and (c) State Commissioner of Police.
“(10) The functions of a State Police Council shall include (a) the organisation and administration of a State Police Force and all other matters relating thereto (not being matters relating to the use and operational control of the Force or the appointment, disciplinary control and dismissal of members of the Force); (b) the general supervision of a State Police Force; and (c) advising the governor on the appointment of State Commissioner of Police.”
The Deputy Minority Leader, Toby Okechukwu, stated that creation of state police was long overdue with the current security crises across the country.
The House had earlier on June 9, 2021, approved a bill to amend the 1999 Constitution to recognise security outfits created by states to complement the Nigeria Police Force in the effort to protect lives and property.
Sponsored by Anthony Afe from Delta State, the legislation is titled ‘A Bill for an Act to Alter the Provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, to Give Legal Backing to State Security Outfit to Complement the Nigeria Police Force.’
Already, several states and geopolitical zones have established vigilante groups and security outfits with various codenames.
Prominent among them is the South-West Security Network Agency, popularly called Amotekun, which has chapters across the six states in the zone.
The joint security and vigilante network in the South-East is codenamed, Ebube Agu.
While there is the religious Hisbah in some northern states, there is the Civilian Joint Task Force in states in the North-East fighting insurgency together with the Armed Forces.
Lagos State had the Neighborhood Safety Corps before Amotekun was established.
Benue State also has Livestock Guards.