- IGP Wants NSCDC, FRSC Merged As Police Department
- Jonathan Says Establishment of State Police Is Non-negotiable
By Abiola Olawale
The Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun has expressed his disapproval for the creation of a State police which is being considered by the Federal Government.
The IGP who spoke at the National Dialogue on State Policing organized by the House of Representatives in collaboration with the Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC) said Nigeria is not ripe enough to handle the creation of state police.
According to him, the creation of state police would lead to problems of jurisdictionsl crisis, which would bring about conflicts of interest.
The IGP who was represented by the Assistant Inspector General (AIG) of Police, Mr Ben Okolo, at the summit which was held in Abuja On Monday said that the Federal Government should instead merge the NSCDC and the FRSC into the police.
He said the Nigeria Police is effective enough to solve the security challenges of the country, adding that adequate manpower will further boost the efficiency of the security agency.
He lamented that most police barracks were dilapidated due to lack of maintenance and renovation.
He also called for increased budgetary allocations to the Nigerian Police for effective training of personnel in modern policing to enhance efficiency and amendment of the 1999 Constitution for more empowerment and funding of police which, according to him, is the lead internal security agency in Nigeria.
Okolo who represented Egbetokun: “Most police stations and barracks that were built over the years in the colonial period have not undergone any renovations despite the increase in the strength of the Force. These have impacted negatively on the performance of the personnel.
“The police leadership is recommending the following instead of creating state police; merging the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps and Federal Road Safety Corps as a Department under the Nigeria Police
“Yearly police recruitment should be increased by at least 30,000 to meet the United Nations requirements. Increase in the budgetary allocations to the Nigerian Police Force. Effective training of personnel in modern policing to enhance efficiency,” he stated.
However, former President Goodluck Jonathan disagreed with the Inspector General of Police, saying the creation of state police is paramount and non-negotiable.
The former president who spoke during the national summit described the creation of state police as ‘a settled matter’ while saying deliberations about how to go about the establishment of the state police should therefore be the focus of discourse.
Jonathan, who spoke at the national dialogue on State Police organized by the House of Representatives in Abuja, said: “There is no way we can manage our internal security if we don’t have state police”.
Drawing from his time as the President, Dr, Jonathan revealed that the 2014 National Conference unanimously endorsed the establishment of “State Police, National Border Guard and National Coast Guard”.
The former President said that the focus of the government and the National Assembly should be on how to create an operational framework for the State Police in a way that enhances Nigeria’s security architecture for the overall security and progress of Nigeria.
