Worried by the rising insecurity challenges in the country, the Federal Government and state governors met at the presidential villa in Abuja on Thursday to deliberate on how to combat it.
Briefing journalists after the meeting, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, explained that the discussion centered around the issue of state police, adding that the process is still in its infancy and would only take shape after more deliberations between stakeholders.
“The Federal Government and the state governments are mulling the possibility of setting up state police,” he said.
“Of course, this is still going to be further discussed. A lot of work has to be done in that direction. Both the Federal Government and the state governments agree on the necessity of having state police. Now this is a significant shift. But as I said, more work needs to be done in that direction.
“A lot of meetings will have to happen between the Federal Government and the sub-nationals to see the modalities of achieving this. Now, these are some of the issues that have been discussed.”
It was gathered that governors elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had on Monday restated their position on state policing, as the solution to the country’s worsening security situation, lamenting that Nigeria is “almost on the road to Venezuela”.
Also, regional socio-political groups such as Afenifere, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Middle Belt Forum, and the Northern Elders’ Forum, have repeatedly called for state police as solution the myriad of increasing security challenges confronting the nation.
Recall that states in the South-West geopolitical zone have formed the Amotekun while their counterparts in the South-East also created state-owned security outfit Ebube Agu. The Benue Guards has also been operational in Benue State in the North Central while states like Katsina, Zamfara and other bandit-prone sub-nationals have also come up with similar state-established outfits.
These outfits have, however, not been as effective as most people would expect, given that some of them have not fully received the support of the federal government. They are asking for license to bear rifles like AK-47 and other sophisticated weapons to enable them effectively deal with the menace.
With reports from Channels