Governors plan to fight B’ Haram with state police
Governors may soon launch an initiative to get President Goodluck Jonathan to support the creation of state police forces as a means of tackling the Boko Harm sect.
The governors said the creation of state police was the ‘panacea for the security crises in the country.’
According to them, recent events have shown that the country is too vast for the Nigeria Police Force that is based in Abuja to effectively manage.
One of the prime movers, Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State, said the establishment of state police had become a necessary tool for the maintenance of peace and order in the society.
Speaking through his Commissioner for Information and Communication, Aniekan Umanah, Akpabio said, government of Akwa Ibom State has been calling for the creation of state police where the governor will have the power to hire and fire.
“The country is too vast to manage by a single apparatus from Abuja. State governments should be given the right to establish their own police. In the United States they have the municipal police which work in tandem with the federal police.”
Umanah stated that there was no way centrally-controlled security operatives could be as effective as state policemen. “Boko Haram would not have been an issue if state police had been created. We would have known the areas the unscrupulous elements were operating from,” he said.
In Anambra State, the state government was already drawing up a constitution amendment proposal to accommodate the creation of a state police force.
The Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, Maja Umeh, said, government’s position on state police will be contained in a constitutional amendment proposal it is drawing up.
In Akure, Ondo State Governor, Olusegun Mimiko, said nothing was too much to protect Nigerians from the deadly Boko Haram sect.
Mimiko said he was willing to champion the cause for the creation of a state police and to convince his fellow governors and President Goodluck Jonathan to support the idea.
The Commissioner for Information and Strategy in the state, Kayode Akinmade, said Mimiko was pushing for the creation of state police because of his belief that the police would be more efficient and effective if decentralised.
“The governor believes that the creation of a state police force would be a very effective way to put the Boko Haram sect in check. T
The governor will continue to demand its creation until the request is approved by the Federal Government,” he said.
Likewise, the Ekiti State Governor, Kayode Fayemi, who described the activities of Boko Haram as ‘deadly terrorism’ said the creation of state police was necessary to stop the sect.
The Commissioner for Information in the state, Funmi Afuye, said state police had become unavoidable in the face of the prevailing insecurity in the country.
This, among other issues, would definitely be what Nigerians would talk about at the sovereign national conference we are canvassing for.”
Governor Patrick Yakowa of Kaduna State had also called for the establishment of state police during the recently concluded Northern Peace Conference organised by the Arewa Consultative Forum.
Yakowa said it was frustrating for state governors to deal with communal violence and that a state-owned police force would be in a better place to deal with such crises before they get out of hand.
Bayelsa State government also holds the same position as Ekiti. According to the Commissioner for Information in the state, Nathan Egba, the decentralisation of the police system is an effective means of tackling the rising insecurity in the country.
Egba, who made the position of the government on state police known to our correspondent in Yenagoa, said all the advanced countries thrived on state and city police.
In Oyo, Governor Abiola Ajimobi threw his weight behind the creation of state police but said it needed constitutional backing.
The Special Adviser to the governor on Media, Festus Adedayo, said, “As much as the government would want to have a state police, it has to be backed by law but the Federal Government is not ready to give room for it.”
However, President Goodluck Jonathan’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Reuben Abati, said notwithstanding the bombings that had plagued the country, his principal’s opposition to the creation of state police had not changed.
Abati recalled the concern raised by the President during the recent meeting of the Nigeria Inter-Religious Council in Ilorin, Kwara State, that if created, state police could be politicised.
The presidential spokesman added that the country’s security challenges were being dealt with.
Abati said every successive government in the country had been confronted with one security challenge or the other in the beginning.
He said, “In the beginning of Obasanjo’s administration, it was the Sharia crisis but the administration overcame it.
For the Yar’Adua’s administration, the challenge was from the Niger Delta, the administration later stabilised. Now it is Boko Haram, we shall get over it.
Governors may soon launch an initiative to get President Goodluck Jonathan to support the creation of state police forces as a means of tackling the Boko Harm sect.
The governors said the creation of state police was the ‘panacea for the security crises in the country.’
According to them, recent events have shown that the country is too vast for the Nigeria Police Force that is based in Abuja to effectively manage.
One of the prime movers, Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State, said the establishment of state police had become a necessary tool for the maintenance of peace and order in the society.
Speaking through his Commissioner for Information and Communication, Aniekan Umanah, Akpabio said, government of Akwa Ibom State has been calling for the creation of state police where the governor will have the power to hire and fire.
“The country is too vast to manage by a single apparatus from Abuja. State governments should be given the right to establish their own police. In the United States they have the municipal police which work in tandem with the federal police.”
Umanah stated that there was no way centrally-controlled security operatives could be as effective as state policemen. “Boko Haram would not have been an issue if state police had been created. We would have known the areas the unscrupulous elements were operating from,” he said.
In Anambra State, the state government was already drawing up a constitution amendment proposal to accommodate the creation of a state police force.
The Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, Maja Umeh, said, government’s position on state police will be contained in a constitutional amendment proposal it is drawing up.
In Akure, Ondo State Governor, Olusegun Mimiko, said nothing was too much to protect Nigerians from the deadly Boko Haram sect.
Mimiko said he was willing to champion the cause for the creation of a state police and to convince his fellow governors and President Goodluck Jonathan to support the idea.
The Commissioner for Information and Strategy in the state, Kayode Akinmade, said Mimiko was pushing for the creation of state police because of his belief that the police would be more efficient and effective if decentralised.
“The governor believes that the creation of a state police force would be a very effective way to put the Boko Haram sect in check. T
The governor will continue to demand its creation until the request is approved by the Federal Government,” he said.
Likewise, the Ekiti State Governor, Kayode Fayemi, who described the activities of Boko Haram as ‘deadly terrorism’ said the creation of state police was necessary to stop the sect.
The Commissioner for Information in the state, Funmi Afuye, said state police had become unavoidable in the face of the prevailing insecurity in the country.
This, among other issues, would definitely be what Nigerians would talk about at the sovereign national conference we are canvassing for.”
Governor Patrick Yakowa of Kaduna State had also called for the establishment of state police during the recently concluded Northern Peace Conference organised by the Arewa Consultative Forum.
Yakowa said it was frustrating for state governors to deal with communal violence and that a state-owned police force would be in a better place to deal with such crises before they get out of hand.
Bayelsa State government also holds the same position as Ekiti. According to the Commissioner for Information in the state, Nathan Egba, the decentralisation of the police system is an effective means of tackling the rising insecurity in the country.
Egba, who made the position of the government on state police known to our correspondent in Yenagoa, said all the advanced countries thrived on state and city police.
In Oyo, Governor Abiola Ajimobi threw his weight behind the creation of state police but said it needed constitutional backing.
The Special Adviser to the governor on Media, Festus Adedayo, said, “As much as the government would want to have a state police, it has to be backed by law but the Federal Government is not ready to give room for it.”
However, President Goodluck Jonathan’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Reuben Abati, said notwithstanding the bombings that had plagued the country, his principal’s opposition to the creation of state police had not changed.
Abati recalled the concern raised by the President during the recent meeting of the Nigeria Inter-Religious Council in Ilorin, Kwara State, that if created, state police could be politicised.
The presidential spokesman added that the country’s security challenges were being dealt with.
Abati said every successive government in the country had been confronted with one security challenge or the other in the beginning.
He said, “In the beginning of Obasanjo’s administration, it was the Sharia crisis but the administration overcame it.
For the Yar’Adua’s administration, the challenge was from the Niger Delta, the administration later stabilised. Now it is Boko Haram, we shall get over it.
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