Don’t Abuse State Police – PSC Boss, Arase Warns Governors

Former Inspector-General of Police and Chairman, Police Service Commission, Dr Solomon Arase, has warned state governors against abuse of state police.

Recall that President Bola Tinubu on Thursday met with the 36 state governors over rising insecurity and kidnapping in the country and considered the establishment of state police to combat the menace.

Arase, who made this known on Inside Sources with Laolu Akande, on Channels Television on Friday, said measures must be put in place to checkmate abuse by state governors.

He said, “Policing is local. Crime is environmental. State police is what we should be thinking about but then, there must be some safeguards put in place like is the governor going to be the one to appoint a commissioner of police and deputy commissioner of police?

“In order areas, the governor does not have control over the appointment of police commissioners. The truth about it is that of we are going to have state police, our political culture must be such that accommodate opposition. Most of our governors, if they have control over police apparatus, their opposition won’t be able to campaign anywhere.”

To check the excesses of state governors, Arase suggested that members of the civil society organisations, lawyers of repute, traditional rulers, religious leaders should be empowered to appoint police commissioners under the state police system.

Speaking further, he decried the rate of crime in the country, stating that crimes would thrive in a country where there were no consequences for committing them.

“We want to see more of prosecution; prosecution is a deterrence to others who want to go that route. The number of arrests in the past eight years is quite huge but it is not commensurate to the prosecution.

“You cannot attract investment in a place where there is no consequence for crimes committed”, Arase posited.