Retired military Generals have said the establishment of state police is not an all in one solution to the nation’s security challenges but a necessary step.
Despite proliferation of security agencies, Nigerians have continuously suffered widespread insecurity with many languishing in terrorists’ captivity.
Nigeria currently has 42 security agencies but citizens are not safe in the face of widespread kidnapping, banditry and herders attacks on farming communities.
They said state police may suffer the same fate as the federal police if not properly established to address challenges of funding and sustainability.
According to the Generals, the success of the much-talked about state police will depend more on demonstrating the political will often lacking in the management of existing ones.
A former director of defence information, Maj. Gen. Chris Olukolade (rtd) says debates on state police were causing unnecessary delays since almost all stakeholders have agreed on its necessity.
He says all the stakeholders had agreed that state police is a desirable approach to solving the nation’s current security challenges.
“I think the debate is taking too long, and it is a desirable approach to solving our security issues in this country…The fact that the government of the day has bought into it and has taken it as a policy, what we should be working on now is the implementation. I agree with those who feel it’s taking too long to implement,” he said.
General Olukolade said rather than debating on the models, government should adopt state polic models available in other countries.
“Adopt models, and there are models all over the world. There are models that other countries have. This debate has been so long, before now, before this government came into being, there had been debates around the necessity for state policing. Now that government is convinced, and I believe the majority of states are equally convinced, regardless of any sentiment against it, why not physically agree and accept it.
That process, including appropriate registration, appropriate legal procedures to make it happen, should be our next concern, not the debate,” he added.
Speaking on whether state police officials would clash with the federal police, he said such conflicts would be addressed by the laws establishing state police.
“Those are things that legislation will take place to give everybody boundaries. The state police will have their boundaries. Federal police will have their boundaries. This will be taken care of by the law. Everybody will know the extent to which they can go. The important thing is to have the society and community secure,” he added.
Another former military spokesman, Brig. Gen. Sani Kukasheka Usman (rtd) says the debate is understandable, as it has become increasingly relevant in the light of the persistent challenges of banditry, terrorism, kidnapping and other forms of violent crime across the country.
“As such it is an idea that has come with time moreso as the government and the political class view it as the solution to most of the security problems in the country”.
