By DEBORAH COKER

The Steering Committee on the Establishment of State Police put in place by the Inspector General (I-G) of Police, Mr Olatunji Disu, has recommended a four-phase architecture transition for State Police.

The recommendation, among others, is contained in the steering committee’s report cited by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), in Abuja on Friday.

The News Agency of Nigeria(NAN), reports that the committee, led by Prof. Olu Ogunsakin, Director General, National Institute of Police Studies, was inaugurated by the I-G on March 4.

The eight-man team was tasked with creating an operational framework for State Police within one month.

The committee is to also oversee the implementation of state-level policing to complement the federal force to address rising national security concerns.

It is also expected to propose frameworks for recruitment, training, and resources generation to strengthen internal security.

Outlining the four-phase architecture implementation roadmap, the committee explained that phase one (months 1-12), was for legal procedures including constitution amendment and the enactment of the State Police Act.

The report also showed that Phase two (months 13-24), was for transfer – that is when Voluntary Transfer Programmes (VTP) open, and first set of officers move to states.

In phase three (months 25 to 42), operations commence as State Police take over local policing, and Federal Police Service (FPS) pulls back to national mandate.

Phase four (months 43-60), is for consolidation as FPS is fully reorganised.

The committee also noted that constitutional and legal architecture must precede everything.

According to the report, Phase one requires constitutional amendments to section 213 and 215 of the 1999 constitution, the enactment of a State Police Act by the National Assembly, and the passage of the State Police Laws in all 36 states and the FCT.

“It also requires the establishment of State Police Service Commissions and Ombudsman offices in every state,” the committee explained.

The committee also recommended the building of institutions from the scratch in all 36 states, and the recruitment and training of new State Police officers.

“Each state will be required to establish from the ground up, a fully functional State Police service, including a service commission, an ombudsman office, community policing forums at local government level, ICT infrastructure, custody suites and forensic linkages.

“The National Police Standard Board (NPSB), must also be constituted, staffed, and made operational with inspection capacity across six zonal offices.”

The committee recommended an establishment cost of N589 billion to N813 billion phased over five years “precisely because it cannot be absorbed in a shorter period”.

The committee further said that each State Police service must recruit and train an entirely new cadre of officers in parallel with receiving FPS transfers.

It, however, explained that the first cohort of State Police recruits would only be enrolled in phase two (months 13 to 24), and their deployment would not begin until phase three (months 25 to 42).

“A mandatory 40-hour CPD programme for all officers must be embedded. This training pipeline alone spans over three years,” the report said.

The report also stressed the importance of a National Police Intelligence Portal (NPIP), a national criminal records system, an Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) upgrade, and a full ICT integration across all 36 states police services and the FPS.

It estimated that the cost for national ICT systems alone was N65 billion to 95 billion, adding that full integration across all services would only be completed in phase four (months 43 to 60).

The committee further said that protection of officer rights must be guaranteed, as no officer must be involuntarily dismissed, and that accrued pension and welfare rights must be fully protected.

The report added that the 60-month period (four-phase) transition was the minimum operationally credible timeframe for restructuring the policing architecture of the country.

It said it would give enough time to move 273,648 officers, build 37 new police services, amend the constitution, and pass legislation at the federal and state levels.

It will also create time for construction of ICT and physical infrastructure and embed an oversight architecture while protecting officers’ welfare and maintaining uninterrupted public security. (NAN)