Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, has warned Nigerians to be careful when discussing the idea of creating state police. He made this statement during an interview with Channels Television from 14.34 while reflecting on Nigeria’s 65th independence anniversary.
Falana explained that Nigeria once had state police before and after independence in the 1960s. However, he said the system failed because it was often abused by politicians in power. According to him, members of opposition parties were harassed, intimidated, and sometimes even framed for crimes they did not commit.
He gave a frightening example of how bad things were in those days. “Whereby you could be sleeping in your room and when you wake up in the morning, there’s a dead body in your compound. The rogue police will come to arrest you and have you charged with murder,” Falana said.
He pointed out that such misuse of state police was one of the reasons Nigeria later moved to a single federal police system under the 1979 and 1999 constitutions. This federal police force is controlled by the president, with some input from the 36 state governors.
Falana stressed that before people demand a return to state police today, Nigerians must ask themselves tough questions. “Why did we abandon state police in the first place? When did the rain begin to beat us?” he asked. See, More, Here>>>
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