At the closing of the two-day summit on nationalsecurity organised by the Senate, state governors and the federal parliamenthave agreed to allow states to have their police.
They backed Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo whostated at the opening of the event on Thursday that state police was “the wayto go.”
Participants, who included the leadership andmembers of the Senate, governors and service chiefs, as well as community,religious and traditional leaders, also raised the issue of restructuring andtrue federalism at the summit.
Strong indications emerged after the summit thatsome issues raised might come up as amendment bills to alter the constitution.
Speaking with journalists at the NAF Centre Abujavenue, Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum and Governor of Zamfara State,Abdulaziz Yari, said governors called for the decentralisation of the country’spolice.
He said, “The takeaway from this summit is thatthe Vice-President raised some of the key discussions on that day – 17thAugust, 2017 – about state police. Yes, the state police issue is somethingthat we have agreed on in 2011 and 2015 during constitution amendments.
READ MORE:Osinbajo Calls For Creation Of State Police
“Today, we have reiterated the position of theVice-President and the position of the security summit that we held in Augustthat there is the need for state police and we say it is the only answer.”
Yari recalled that a participant asked how statepolice would succeed when the military had been deployed in communities wherethere were agitations but failed.
The governor said his response was that themilitary were trained for external aggressions and not for internal securityoperations.
“Internal security is supposed to be handled andmanaged by the police but the police of today are inadequate. There are aboutfour million people in Zamfara State but we have less than five thousandpolicemen. If you look at the ratio, it is far below international standards.Therefore, we, the governors, agree that we can fine-tune the issue of statepolice,” Yari added.
The governor dismissed the fear of possible abuseof state police by governors as raised by some of the participants. He said thejudiciary had been operating freely under governors, which was an indicationthat state police would also grow under the control of the states.
Yari also noted the fears expressed by somestates governors on the cost implication of having state police. He said the newsystem would be introduced in phases, starting with states that had thefinancial capability.
Also, the Minority Leader of the Senate, GodswillAkpabio, said most of the participants agreed on the decentralisation of thepolice.
He said the lawmakers might review theconstitution to effect devolution of powers and accommodate state police.
He noted security had been centralised, addingthat the population of the country had increased from 60 million in 1960to 200 million, noting that “the number of policemen cannot police theentire country and provide security for Nigerians.
“Therefore, there is the need to decentralisethat aspect and that comes under devolution of powers. We may need to reviewthe constitution to bring security under the concurrent list of the legislatureso that it will be easy for the states to set up something that will be in linewith proper guidelines. State policing has been accepted by all and sundry. Ihave not seen anybody speaking against it. I think that is one major thing wecan take out of this summit. The centralisation of the police can no longerwork with the kind of population that we have today.”
The former Governor of Akwa Ibom State also saidthe participants agreed on establishment of ranches and grazing reserves as thegrazing routes created for nomadic herdsmen had been blocked with structuresdue to development of towns and cities over the years.
“The implication now is that with the currentpopulation growth in the country, there is now a lot of competition among thecows, the grass and infrastructure. If the routes do no longer exist, we haveto modernise the system,” he added.
Also, Senator Adamu Aliero, a former Governor ofKebbi State, said the stakeholders had an extensive debate on the spate ofinsecurity in Benue State and other parts of the country where people werebeing killed by herdsmen.
“We all decided that measures must be taken tostop further killings and the only way to do it is to have synergy between thesecurity agencies. Even the governors have agreed that state police is the wayto go. It is quite consistent with what the Vice-President has suggested,” hesaid.
In his submission, Senator Victor Umeh said someparticipants at the 2014 national conference, who were also at the summit,decried the non-implementation of the report produced by the confab.
He said, “At the summit, issues of the nationalconference of 2014 came up. Why can’t we implement the recommendations of thatconference? Some of the leaders who came here were at the national conference.You talked somewhere and abandoned the resolutions somewhere, only to come hereand start to talk again. When are the solutions going to be found?”
Umeh also said ethnic nationalities andgeopolitical zones expressed their grievances at the meeting, especially thealleged marginalisation of the South-East in federal appointments and proposedstoppage of amnesty programme for militants in the Niger Delta.
He said, “Those who have not been treated well,when they are complaining; don’t think because you are comfortable today,others are making noise. If you find grievances that are genuine, find a way ofaddressing them.”
Buhari promises solutions to securitychallenges
President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday said hisadministration was working on solutions that could stand the test of time totackle the nation’s security challenges.
He added that he was committed to ensuring thatsuch solutions would earn the confidence of Nigerians.
Buhari made the promise in a message he posted onhis verified Twitter handle, @MBuhari, shortly after he held another round ofmeetings with the nation’s security chiefs.
He said he fully understood the seriousness ofthe security issues bedevilling the nation.
“Today, I presided over a meeting of the SecurityCouncil. We fully understand the seriousness and urgency of Nigeria’s securityissues, and are determined to implement carefully considered solutions thatwill not only earn the confidence of Nigerians, but also stand the test oftime,” the President wrote.
Buhari also said one of the resolutions at themeeting was that security agencies must take intelligence gathering and sharingmore seriously.
He said the Department of State Services and theNigeria Police Force were specifically directed to wake up on the issue.
He also promised that all those arrested inrelation to killings in parts of the country would be prosecuted.’’
He wrote, “Our law enforcement agencies must atall times stay ahead of bandits and criminals, wherever they are across thecountry, by efficiently gathering, sharing and acting on credible intelligence.I am assuring (you) that we will give them all the support needed to succeed.
“Let me also assure (you) that all personsarrested so far, including those arrested for illegally possessing arms, willbe duly prosecuted.”
The meeting which was also attended byVice-President Yemi Osinbajo was held at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The Secretary to the Government of theFederation, Boss Mustapha; Minister of Defence, Mansur Dan-Ali; Ministerof Interior, Abdulrahman Dambazau; Minister of Foreign Affairs, GeoffreyOnyeama and the National Security Adviser, Maj.-Gen. Babagana Monguno (retd) ,also attended.
The meeting was an expanded one as the number ofparticipants was extended to accommodate the heads of the NigeriaImmigration Service, Nigeria Customs Service, Nigeria Fire Service, FederalRoad Safety Corps, Nigeria Prisons Service and the Nigeria Security and CivilDefence Corps.
These are apart from the service chiefs and theInspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, who meet with the Presidentregularly.
Service chiefs who attended the meeting are theChief of Defence Staff; Gen. Gabriel Olonisakin; Chief of Army Staff; Lt.-Gen.Tukur Buratai; Chief of Naval Staff, Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas; and the Chief ofAir Staff, Sadique Abubakar; Director-General of the Department of StateServices, Lawal Daura; and the Director-General of the Nigeria IntelligenceAgency, Ahmed Abubakar.
None of those who attended the meeting waswilling to speak with State House correspondents when approached for comments.
As of the time of filing this report, thePresidency had not issued an official statement on the meeting.
