Some legal practitioners in Onitsha, Anambra state have called for the decentralization of the Police Service Commission (PSC) as a regulatory body for effective service delivery.
The lawyers who said the call followed recent protests by the Nigerian youths against the defunct Special Anti Robbery Squad (SARS), canvased for the establishment of the Commission in all states of the federation to checkmate the excesses of some over-zealous policemen.
They also called on the federal government to reduce cost of governance and channel the proceeds towards the provision of more employment opportunities for the youths and basic amenities for all Nigerians.
The legal luminaries who spoke from their various law firms at Onitsha included some past leaders of Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) in the state, Sylvester Eze, Ben Okoko, Maurice Efobi, Samuel Chukwukelu and Chudi Nwokediuko.
Bar. Nwokediuko said the Police Service Commission should be headed by persons of proven impeccable character as board members to work on part-time basis.
He said, “When the policemen know that the PSC is located closer to where people can have access to forward their complaints against the erring policemen, the policemen themselves would be cautious anytime they are handling cases.
“Anytime the PSC members are sitting, they will be looking into petitions in favour or against policemen with a view to recommending the promotion, demotion or even outright dismissal of erring police men on duty.
“I also recommend that for the ongoing probing of brutality, panels comprising of security agents from other agencies should probe a particular agency. DSS or Civil Defence should probe the police and and not the police probing itself because one cannot be a judge in his own case”.
On his part, Barr. Eze said the police and other security agencies should not be scrapped in view of crucial services they render to the society, insisting a lot of reformations were required to enable them attain acceptable global standards.
Okoko lamented failure of intelligence in governance, saying it was high time each state government managed its own Police.
“We need State Police with Policemen who know the terrain and will easily be held accountable if they misbehave. Senseless jumbo salaries of legislators is another cause of concern which should be reduced to accommodate others”, he said.
