Lawmakers renew call for state police

Legislators, representing Plateau State in the House of Representatives have re-emphasised the need for the country to urgently adopt state police as the only means to address the various insurgents across the country.

In similar tone, members of the Lagos State House of Assembly, said the adoption of state police, should no longer be considered from the political perspective, but a necessity for the country.The legislators from the two states made the demand as a result of the recent kidnap and murder of traditional rulers, which outside other security challenges both states have witnessed in the recent past.

Members of the Plateau state caucus made the demand in the heels of the dastard murder of a paramount ruler of Bokkos, his royal majesty the Saf Ron Kulere, Dah Lazarus Amashin Agai, who was killed alongside his son, daughter in law and police orderly on his way back from his farm by gunmen suspected to be herdsmen, while Lagos Assembly made the call as a result of a recent abduction of the traditional ruler of Iba community, Oba Goriola Oseni – the Oniba of Iba land.

Also abducted with him were a woman, her three-month-old baby, and a businessman.The two developments were part of the various unrest, crises and insurgents that have been fueling the demands for states to have and control separate police force.

Speaking for the Plateau legislators, the caucus led by Mr. Solomon Bulus Maren believed that Plateau, which had been at the receiving end of deadly attacks from herdsmen, deserved to be policed by its own local people for peace to reign.

Maren noted that the unfortunate incidence has further reinforced the need for state police in the polity. Said he, “If this issue of state police had been sorted out we would not have been talking about this unfortunate incidence today. I am in support of state police because we would have policemen who are familiar with their terrain and the people because they are also part of the community.

“They can easily distinguish those with suspicious and dangerous characters and any strange move or moves inimical to the peace of their area.”Maren insisted he and his colleagues would continue to advocate for state police because that was the only measure that would protect the minorities in the country.

Recalling the killing of a district head of Manguna two months ago in Bokkos Local Government, the lawmakers said with the demise of the paramount ruler, Plateau has lost a peacemaker with vast experience in the culture and tradition of the people in the state.

The Plateau lawmakers said it behooved the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government to intervene on the spate of killings and destruction of properties by suspected herdsmen in their state.

They insisted: “Yes, we want state police. It would go a long way in reducing crime and criminality in the country. As things stands now, no state is in control of its security. Security is on the exclusive list and not on the concurrent list. So we look up to the Federal Government to have a rethink on the issue.

“We want Mr. President to visit the state, our people want to hear him talk on this issue. He should give us a sense of belonging by bringing the perpetrators of the heinous crime to book and appeal to whomever that doesn’t want peace to give peace a chance. Nobody is safe in Plateau anymore. This is another dimension of terrorism in the State.”

Meanwhile members of the Lagos Assembly said it was hopeful that the Federal Government, being headed by a President who emerged from the All Progressives Congress (APC), would urgently look into the demand and give necessary approval.

The Speaker of the House, Mudashiru Obasa stated that personnel in charge of the nation’s security were inadequate, and that security was poor in the state, while he called for the creation of state police by the Federal Government.He said Federal Government should allow state police to reduce insurgents in the states.

Obasa, who supported the demand for state police, said the House had been calling for state police since the Fifth Assembly.Some analysts also said states should be granted the right to operate separate police force, while they demanded for special status for Lagos.

The National Coordinator of the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) Otunba Gani Adams also reiterated similar call as a means to curbing continuous killing spree by suspected herdsmen and other insurgents across the country.

According to Adams, “Nigeria needs to be restructured to overcome its present travails. At the 2014 National Conference, we recommended state police in every state, we recommended ways we could handle conflicts in every state based on their culture and system but they were all rejected because some powerful people did not want it.”