Govs May Abuse State Police, Regional Security Outfits

A former Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, has warned that Nigerians may experience more abuse of their human rights by security outfits established by states and zones as the country gets closer to the general elections in 2023.

Ekweremadu, who noted that he had always been an advocate for state police, decried that the regional and state security bodies being created are not regulated, especially by the Federal Government.

The lawmaker, who has been representing Enugu West Senatorial District since 2003, had sponsored bills to decentralise the present policing structure in the country.

Speaking with our correspondent, Ekweremadu said, “Everybody knows that I am a strong advocate of not just state police but what I call decentralised policing. That is to say that there will be police at the national level, police at the state level and police at the local level and sometimes in big corporations.

“So, I still stand by my position. But in doing so, let me also say that I have been very conscious of the fact that there is also the possibility of abuse. So, I am not saying that those who are opposed to state police are not making sense, no. They have good points and one of their points is that it is subject to abuse. We have seen some of the abuses; we have seen some incidents of abuse.

“My worry, therefore, is that the abuse may continue and as we are heading towards 2023 (general elections), it is also likely that we will see signs of things that will discourage people like me to continue to advocate for state police. We have seen the governors at the various regions or geopolitical zones coming together to set up regional security networks.

“We have also seen state security networks as well. We have also seen the abuse of some of them. These are some of the things that worry people. As I said, my worry is that it may be further abused as we move towards 2023.”