The Lagos House of Assembly says state police are the panacea to solving the challenge of insecurity in the country.
During the plenary session on Monday, Mudashiru Obasa, speaker of the Lagos House of Assembly, said the stance of Kayode Egbetokun, the inspector-general of police (IGP), on state police, is “unacceptable.”
While speaking in Abuja at a national dialogue organised by the House of Representatives in April, Egbetokun said Nigeria is not mature enough for state police.
The IGP, who was represented at the event by Ben Okolo, an assistant inspector-general of police (AIG), said the challenges in the way of effective policing in Nigeria should be addressed instead of creating state police.
He also suggested that the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) should be merged to become a department in the police.
“It is the submission of the leadership of the Nigeria Police Force that Nigeria is yet to mature for the establishment of state-controlled police,” Egbetokun had said.
However, a day later, Okolo backtracked, clarifying that the statement did not represent the stance of the IGP.
At the plenary, Obasa asked Olalekan Onafeko, clerk of the house, to write the IGP and national assembly that the lawmakers are in support of the establishment of state police.
“In Lagos state, we have the security trust fund through which successive administrations, starting from that of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, have provided enormous support to the police command in Lagos state. Yet, crime of different dimensions has continued,” the speaker said.
“This shows that no matter what Egbetokun has proffered as a solution, such won’t solve our problem. The position of the IGP is unacceptable. We strongly believe that if we had state police, we would be able to solve the issue of crime in our nation or reduce it to the minimum.
“As we have seen in other climes, the United Kingdom has different levels of policing, just like the United States of America. So why should ours be different? The lives of our people are very important, and we must do everything possible to make sure we protect lives and property.
“We want to state categorically that we believe in state police, and we want to urge the national assembly to continue with its intendment to establish state police through the process of constitutional amendment.”
Contributing, Sa’ad Olumoh, a lawmaker representing the Ajeromi/Ifelodun 1 state constituency, said each state in the country presently has a local security outfit that is akin to the state police.
“Today, which state does not have state police one way or the other? This is a cause that should be supported. For the IG to come out and say state police are not in the interest of Nigeria shows he is not considering the reality of insecurity among Nigerians,” Olumoh said.
