“I was a governor for eight years and know the power the
governors wield. If you add state police to them, the security situation will
get just worse,” he said.
Suswam cited the governors’ attitude to local government
elections to prove his claims that they were dictators.
“Local Governments are placed under the states and governors
conduct elections into the councils.
“The ruling party always pick all the seats and won’t allow
the opposition to pick even a councillorship seat.
“To perfect such a dictatorship, they use the federal
police. Imagine what will happen when they have a state police force under
their armpits,” he argued.
He recalled that the Native Police in the then Northern
Nigeria was disbanded because of its arbitrariness and misuse of power.
“The hardline attitude of the Native Police will be a
child’s play when compared with what state governors could do with a police
force totally under their control,” he said.
He, however, agreed that some governors would use the state
police positively, but that majority of them would misuse such force.
“Clearly, the state police will breed crises and there will
always be a clash between the state and federal police which may breed more
insecurity and confusion,” he said.
He expressed fears about where the states could recruit the
state policemen from.
“There is unemployment everywhere; there is criminality
around. There are also thugs ready for any assignment.
“The tendency is for governors to recruit these people and
throw them at the society. When that happens, imagine what we shall all face,”
he said.
Suswam opted for community policing to help local
settlements monitor the movement of people in, and around, their areas.
“Communities can have teams that can monitor their areas and
report the presence of strangers and suspicious movements.
“Such teams could be empowered to use some force, when
necessary, to apprehend suspicious persons and hand them over to the Police.
“They should also have proper orientation to know their
powers and appreciate their limits,” he said.
Suswam urged the government to fund the Police Force
properly and give them modern tools to fight crime in the society.
He urged the National Assembly to look at the idea
critically and place national interest above the desires of state governors.
