Former Attorney General of the Federation, Mike Aondoakaa, has warned that allowing states to independently procure arms for their proposed state police could create confusion, stressing the need for central control of military and paramilitary equipment.
Speaking during an interview on ARISE News on Monday, Aondoakaa said the procurement of equipment for state police should be subject to a legal framework that ensures proper oversight.
“You cannot allow 36 states to go buying equipment directly from the international market to arm their policemen. There should be a level of control,” he said.
Aondoakaa suggested that the legal framework for the procurement of such equipment could involve the National Security Adviser, arguing that there should be proper tracking of arms supplied to individual states.
“And the requirement for the procurement of equipment military and paramilitary equipment should be controlled, possibly subject in the framework, legal framework should be through the national security advisor so that we can know this type of arms went to the state, this type of arms went to the state,” he said.
He added: “It will be a lot of confusion if a 36 state goes to the market and imports arms for their state police, that we can look at it.”
Aondoakaa also identified recruitment as another area requiring safeguards, particularly to prevent political interference in the establishment of state police.
“The key areas I would like to observe that must be taken care of, the issue of recruitment, to avoid politicians breaking the laws to become state police officers,” he said.
He said the issue should be addressed through legislation to ensure that politicians do not take control of state police recruitment.
“And that should be handled in a manner which is legislated by the federal government. Politicians are not allowed to come and put people who are not worthy of being police officers.”
Despite his concerns about possible abuses, Aondoakaa described the establishment of state police as a positive development, recalling that the idea had been proposed during the 2009 constitutional reform process.
“State police is an idea that in 2009, during the first constitutional reforms, which we did on the first year, we brought the idea of state police because of the enormous challenges facing the federal police in policing the country. Unfortunately, we could not say it through.”
“Luckily, the present government has been able to see it through and it’s a very good thing,” he said.
Aondoakaa said appropriate regulation would be necessary to address concerns over the use and control of state police.
“We cannot move on, we cannot say we will not move on because the apprehensions of state police because of abuses. What we can certainly do is that luckily, it is being placed on concurrent lists. And the framework, legal framework, can be effectively done by the federal government and the state.”
He added that there should also be mechanisms to ensure greater independence in the handling of state police operations at the local level.
“These are just a few observations, but I believe it’s a laudable project.”
Faridah Abdulkadiri
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