By Igbonekwu Ogazimora
I am not a fan of State Police. But I am not a fan of super-federal police either.
You would wonder what I would welcome as the development and antidote to herdsemen violation of our native farmlands, women folk and values.
By the way, I have come of Eastern philiosphy of power. Not actually Machievelian! And I wonder! Bakassi Boys in Aba! Yes, the excesses of herdsmen, across the forest regions of Nigeria calls for extra measures. These forest regions are in the East, West and Mid West.
The only reasons we have failed to develop vegetation areas in the North and far Noth is not that it not possible. It is because the leaders, the controllers of the lever of national spending never considered it necessary to so do. Mere crude boreholes would cause vegetations to rise in places where sands held supreme. We leave that for now.
I observed the Mbadinuju Bakassi Boys in Anambra State. God! It was awful. The extreme of humanity violation. Pure instrument for vendetta and political browbeat. Put simply, we must train our local security personnel – we so desperately need them – in institutions which represent the best in values of human rights, law and order.
As our democracy deepens, we find the fuller values and elements. One of which is locality policing. Super police buffs have said it. Crime is usually locality anchored. And they have turned out to be right.
In my reportorial days, as Aninih rogue petered off, the IGP, Muhammed Gambo said, every such crime, comes with strong local content. Then, I did not understand! Now, I do.
We are all clamouring for State police, not just as counter poise to Kano Hisbah, but reasonable legal checks on herdsmen menace across the land. Yes, we need it.
I am even in a party – not political party- designing the format for such checks. But permit me, can such ever come without training for such operatives who do not have any knowledge of the law? Any inkling of the values of human rights and pre stated design to understand the customs of persons and groups living in a part of Nigeria?
The North – Kano, Zamfara, etc – have made their mistakes or shown their arrogance of setting up State Police organisations, such as Hisbah, without resource to the values of our Federalist Nigeria, but we owe it a duty to come up with our superior understanding of the values of pluralist society.
I observed the Mbadinuju Bakassi Boys in Anambra State. God! It was awful. The extreme of humanity violation. Pure instrument for vendetta and political browbeat. Put simply, we must train our local security personnel – we so desperately need them – in institutions which represent the best in values of human rights, law and order.
Our farming population is being intimidated daily by herdsemen. And these herdsmen do not accept that any uninhabited forest or land is owned. Forget the Land Use Decree/Act. Every land, especially in the South of Nigeria is owned, fully owned and beyond the pretences of Obasanjo decree/Act about lands.
Enugu, Anambra, Ebonyi, Imo and the entire Southern States, now is the time.
Move! Establish locality Police, but train and educate them on human rights.