The National Conscience Party (NCP) on Saturday announced its opposition to the creation of State Police in the country.
It warned that governors will use the security arm to deal with opponents, critics and other Nigerians at will.
Lagos State Chairman of the party, Fatai Ibu-Owo, said the NCP decried the idea because it would not solve the security problem in the nation but worsen it.
He argued that the country had not attained the political maturity to adopt State Police, as the the creation would be subjected to political manipulation.
Ibu-Owo said in a country where people still identified with tribes rather than the country, the idea was not good for national unity.
“We at NCP are opposed to the idea because the country is not ripe for such, especially in a country where politicians can be desperate”, he told NAN.
“We believe that if states are allowed to have their own police, politicians would manipulate them to fight or crush the opposition, rather than fight security challenges.
“Just like governors are using the state electoral commissions to achieve their political whims and caprices in their respective states.
“Also, State Police is not good for a multi-ethnic and multi-cultural country like Nigeria.
“They could be used to dangerously settle ethnic scores, and this is not good for the unity of the country”.
Ibu-Owo said the way forward was for the government to strengthen the Federal Police by providing it with the wherewithal to deal with the country’s challenges.
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