Justice Osai Ahiakwo
By Akpan David, Calabar
Deputy director of legal matters at Brotherhood of the Cross and Star legal department, Justice Osai Ahiakwo has strongly condemned calls for establishment of state police forces in Nigeria.
In an interview in Calabar, Cross River State, Justice Ahiakwo who was in Regnum Chambers, said State Police will become nightmarish, and governors will consequently become power drunk and use it to terrorise opposition and citizens.
“I am not agreeable to State Policing at this period of our nation building.
“Except, the ongoing amendment of the 1999 Constitution will clearly restrict or limit the State Policing to have control only on certain misdemeanour offences, State Policing, if passed into law, will be a nightmare. It would make situation worst than terriorism, bandictry, armed robbery and other heinous crimes will be willfully perpetrated by the State Governors. “
Ahiakwo maintained that if State Policing is enshrined in the Constitution, there will be the likelihood and inevitable call for the immunity clause of the State Governors and Deputy Governors to be expunged from the Constitution.
He feared that if such clause is removed from the constitution, there will no longer be check on the Governors or their Deputy Governors.
The legal expert, however, lamented that it was unfortunate that a nation with over 200 million population was being policed by a force slightly more than 100,000 personnel
He bemoaned the poor system of government which does not make the police to be effective and efficient.
He maintained that state policing will plunge the country into anarchy.
“A state governor in charge of the Police will exercise such power absolutely, even to the extent of challenging the Federal Government.
He drew attention to federalism practised in other climes where state police exist, and explained that laws are enacted to distinguish between federal and states sharing concurrently on security matters.
“This is achieveable because the Governors are not power drunk.
“The Nigerian situation is different as the Governors will neglect to apply the law confering on the federal government control of security nation wide.
“It is in Nigeria we hear governors inciting their citizens to pick up guns and defend themselves. Same arbitrariness is displayed where some Governors do not even conduct local council elections throughout their stay in office as provided by the laws.”
