Civil society organisations have urged the Godswill Akpabio-led Senate to promptly pass the state police bill into law to reform the country’s security architecture.
Mr Akpabio had announced during plenary on Tuesday that President Bola Tinubu transmitted a Constitution Alteration Bill to the Senate, seeking the establishment of state police, adding that states have also promised to consider the bill on the same day, once they receive it.
However, Mr Akpabio moved to have the bill considered on Wednesday to honour House of Representatives member, Yaya Tongo, representing Kwami/Funakaye federal constituency of Gombe, who died at Nizamiye Hospital in Abuja on June 12.
The bill, if passed into law, will amend the 1999 Constitution to create state-run policing systems alongside the existing federal police, giving governors more control over security in their states.
Speaking to Peoples Gazette on Tuesday, the president of the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights, Debo Adeniran, said, “With the kind of debate we heard them engage in, it’s going to materialise, and once it materialises, it will add a lot of impetus to the fight against insecurity in Nigeria.
“It can’t be overemphasised that state police will employ indigenes of the state. They will know the terrain better. If strangers come into the bushes, the natives will know where every path leads. So, it will be easier for state police to engage criminals than strangers who might not even understand the state’s geography. It’s a welcome development. If they grant it accelerated passage, it will help address security issues promptly.”
The chairman of the Lagos Chapter of the Civil Liberties Organisation, Kenny Bakere, stated, “Everybody is clamouring for state policing. It’s essential for the Senate to act, and they should act quickly. We need it urgently. There’s no going back on it. It’s something everybody wants right now, and they want it to really happen as soon as possible.”
A former chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress in Benue, Anya Gideon, stated that “the insecurity now in our country demands the decentralisation of the security forces because you can’t expect somebody in Abuja to delegate security forces to Benue, to attend to the needs of the people in Benue”.
Mr Gideon added, “We see it as a welcome development. It should be passed quickly so that the governors who are already collecting gigantic security votes will have no excuses. At that level, if a state is insecure, the federal government will not be held responsible. I don’t think the Senate will waste time passing the bill. Some of these senators have been complaining that they can’t visit their federal constituencies, senatorial districts, and local governments.”
