“If anything happens in a state, the state governor cannot call on the police to do anything except there is approval from the president,” said the CISLAC director.
The Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) said having a genuine security sector reform to create more decentralisation of the sector in the country was the solution to insecurity.
CISLAC executive director, Auwal Musa, said this during a one-day media workshop on Defence Anti-corruption Reportage, Civic Space and Oversight on Tuesday in Lagos.
CISLAC, in collaboration with Transparency International – Defence and Security Programme with support from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, organised the workshop.
Mr Musa stressed that Nigeria could no longer sustain a centralised security architecture, especially within the police, to tackle and eradicate banditry and terrorism.
“For example, if anything happens in a state, the state governor cannot call on the police to do anything except there is approval from the president. By that time, people will have been killed and property damaged. So, there is a need for us to have a holistic national discussion and dialogue about security sector reform,” he said.
The CISLAC director opposed the idea of forming a local militia adopted by some governors to fight killer herdsmen and bandits.
“Even though we are dissatisfied with the current security situation in the country, we cannot afford to encourage any illegal means of creating a militia in the name of responding to insecurity,” he noted. “Invariably, you will be arming citizens that are not properly trained, knowledgeable and lack the legal and constitutional mandate to carry out operations.”
According to Mr Musa, the lack of proper training will likely create a situation “whereby they misuse such kinds of weapons against one another.”
He urged governors to mobilise senators, house of representatives and security actors in their states to demand a constitutional reform to allow state police creation.
“We have been talking about security reform for a long time under different government dispositions, and we will not get tired of demanding improvement until our demands are met,” Mr Musa stressed. “The lack of security accountability in this country is what is responsible for the continuous impunity in the security situation, and we have every right to demand accountability on security operations.”
The CISLAC boss also mentioned that billions of naira were budgeted for security, but Nigerians had yet to see tangible improvement in the security of their lives and property.
“The country has become an endangered species because a lot of people cannot move from one local government to another without being attacked or kidnapped. This begs the question of what they have been doing with all the billions budgeted for in the name of security,” said Mr Musa.
He added, “Why is it that the National Assembly is not able to interrogate the missing monies that are not commensurable to the safety, protection and welfare of the Nigerian security?”
(NAN)
