Michael Aondoakaa, a former attorney-general and Minister of Justice, says politicians must be prevented from populating state police formations with their loyalists.
The former attorney-general of the federation said federal legislation on state police should be enacted to regulate recruitment and arms procurement.
Speaking on Arise TV on Monday, Aondoakaa said the federal government should oversee such aspects.
“If the federal government does create a law regulating state police, even if they enact it, it will be inoperative. There are key areas I would like to observe that must be taken care of: the issue of recruitment, to avoid politicians bringing touts to become state police officers,” Aondoakaa said.
“And that should be handled in a manner that politicians are not allowed to come in and bring people who are not worthy to be police officers.”
Aondoakaa said the procurement of arms and ammunition should be conducted through the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) to regulate and monitor the numbers of firearms and equipment in states.
“The second issue is the issue of procurement of ammunition; you cannot allow 36 states and the FCT to go buy equipment directly from the international market to arm their policemen,” he said.
“There should be a level of control, and the requirement for procurement of equipment and paramilitary equipment should be controlled, possibly subject to the legal framework, [and] should be through the national security adviser.
“So that we can know which type of arms went to which state. If the entire 36 states go to the market and import arms for their state police, there would be a lot of confusion.”
He added that apprehension over possible abuses should not prevent Nigeria from addressing its policing challenges.
The ex-minister said the federal and state governments should work together to establish an effective legal framework for the operation of state police.
Aondoakaa also called for magistrates to be granted judicial-officer status to ensure independent regulation of the activities of state police in rural communities.