Nine governors are currently favourably disposed to the establishment of State Police, according to Kaduna state Governor, Nasir El-Rufai. El-Rufai said the position of the governors has strengthened the growing agitation for state police especially as insecurity across the federation tended to have defied a centralised policing structure. Accordingly, the Kaduna State governor said the issue of state policing should be looked at again, noting that it would provide a new opportunity to strengthen security in the country.
Speaking in Kaduna Wednesday when members of Senior Executive Course 40 of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies visited him, the governor said a review of the present structure would be necessary to address the growing need for quick security interventions in states. According to him, managing security requires exploring the root cause and taking effective measures to tackle the challenges.
He therefore identified the menace of street gangs, kidnapping, armed robbery as some of the security challenges in the state. “We have been working with police to curtail that, and also prosecuting offenders with stiffer penalties,” he said stressing that the indigene- settler phenomenon has contributed immensely to creating deep division among the people of Nigeria. “Until we retrace ourselves and move away from that and look at the citizen from what he or she can contribute; we are sad with the way people are now, as the more educated they are the more ignorant they become.”
“There are nine governors who strongly believe in state police, the current number of policemen in the country is grossly inadequate, there is need to double the number of police personnel.” It would be recalled that the issue of state police is one of the major items being considered for amendment in the ongoing process to amend the 1999 Nigeria Constitution. Already, the requesting is being subjected to verification by the 36 states House of Assemblies where it is expected that two third of the assemblies would give their nod for it to scale through the amendment hurdles.
