The redeployment of officers, legal reforms, institutional building and training requirements needed to avoid disruption to national security are part of the reasons behind the 60-month timeline recommended by the Steering Committee on State Police inaugurated by the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Olatunji Disu.

Mixed reactions have continued to trail the panel’s suggestion that it would take five years for state police to be implemented.

Many critics accused the police hierarchy of attempts to stall the process.

But information available to The Nation showed that the timeline by the Police Committee was shorter than the 71-month recommended by the Nigerian Governors’ Forum for the implementation.

In its recommendation, the panel headed by Prof. Olu Ogunsakin explained that the 60-month window was the minimum practical period required to move 273,648 officers of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) into new roles across 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), while setting up new state policing structures and preserving the operational capacity.

It said the transition was expected to take place in five phases covering preparation, application processing, active transfers, federal police reorganisation and final consolidation.

Each phase, it said, would depend on the completion of the previous one, making it difficult to shorten the schedule without risking institutional failure and compromise national security.

The report explained that the first stage alone would require amendments to Sections 214 and 215 of the 1999 Constitution; passage of a State Police Act by the National Assembly, and separate enabling laws by all states and the FCT.

It will also involve setting up State Police Service Commissions and Ombudsman offices nationwide before operations can begin.

The committee also noted that each state must build its police service from scratch, including recruitment systems, community policing forums at local government level, custody facilities, forensic support structures and digital infrastructure.

A National Police Standards Board (NPSD) with inspection powers across six zonal offices will also be established as part of the framework.

Estimating the cost of establishing the state police system at between N589 billion and N813 billion over five years, the steering committee said the investment cannot be completed within a shorter period without affecting quality and coordination.

The report also highlighted the complexity of redeploying officers under a voluntary transfer programme supported by career counselling and welfare guarantees.

It stated that no officer would be forced to move, while pension rights and service benefits would be protected throughout the transition period.

Officers within five years of retirement, those on medical leave, personnel deployed in conflict areas and female officers with special considerations are to receive additional protection under the transition plan, it added.

The panel said recruitment and training of new state police officers would run alongside transfers from the federal force, with the first batch of recruits expected to begin training after the initial application phase.

The deployment of new officers would start later in the transition cycle after completing mandatory professional training programmes.

Also, the nationwide integration of policing databases, including a National Police Intelligence Portal, a criminal records system and an upgraded Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS), would require between N65 billion and N95 billion and would only be completed in the later stages of implementation.

The report warned that the phased approach was also designed to manage risks such as political interference, funding gaps, ethnic bias, intelligence breakdown and procurement abuses.

Oversight mechanisms, including inspections and coordination protocols, were expected to be tested during the transition period before full autonomy of state police services.

It stressed that about 40 per cent of existing federal police personnel, who would remain in the proposed Federal Police Service (FPS), would be reassigned to specialised national duties such as counter-terrorism, border security, interstate crime control and intelligence operations.

The panel added that the final phase of the transition would include a nationwide performance review of state police services and possible amendments to the enabling laws based on operational experience.

It added that the five-year timeline was the safest pathway for restructuring the policing system while maintaining public safety and protecting the rights and welfare of officers during the transition. (The Nation)

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