Posted by Dr. Solomon Arase, a former police inspector general and chairman of the Police Service Commission, has cautioned state governors against misusing state police.
Remember that President Bola Tinubu met with the 36 state governors on Thursday to discuss the nation’s growing insecurity and kidnapping problem, and to discuss the creation of state police as a means of countering the threat.
Arase announced this on Channels Television’s Inside Sources with Laolu Akande on Friday. She stated that action had to be taken to prevent state governors from abusing their power.
“Policing is local,” he declared. Environmental factors contribute to crime. The state police should be our focus, but first, some measures need to be taken. For example, would the governor be the one to name the commissioner and deputy commissioner of police?
The governor has no say in who gets appointed as police commissioners in order zones. The reality is that if we want state police, our political climate needs to be one that welcomes dissent. If the majority of our governors maintain control over the police system, their opponents will be unable to run for office anyplace.
Arase proposed giving members of civil society organizations, well-known attorneys, traditional leaders, and religious leaders the authority to name police commissioners within the state police system in order to restrain the abuses of state governors.
Speaking further, he criticized the nation’s crime rate, saying that crimes will proliferate in a place where there are no repercussions for their commission.
“Prosecution is a deterrent to others who wish to pursue that road, so we want to see more of it. Although there have been a lot of arrests during the last eight years, the number does not match the number of prosecutions.
“Investment cannot be drawn to a place where criminal activity is not penalized.”