A member of the House of Representatives, Mr Adejoro Adeogun (APC-Ondo), has said that Nigeria’s political class is not ready for state police.
Adeogun, in an interview with journalists in Abuja, recommended decentralisation of the current police force and effective community policing to address insecurity in the country instead of the call for the establishment of state police.
Adeogun, who represents Akoko South East/Akoko South West Federal Constituency of Ondo, said that governors would use state police as a tool to intimidate opposition if established.
“I am aware that there were few occasions when attempts were made to amend the constitution to allow for state police and it was opposed by some parts of the country.
“There is a lot of suspicion because the political class does not handle power very well; give a governor powers to appoint the Commissioner of Police, he will use the same police to overwhelm the opponent.
“Lets look at what is happening with state electoral commissions, the opposition party hardly win elections in the state, the same thing will happen when we have state police, the opposition will not get security protection.
“We are not prepared for state police, what we can do is to decentralise the current police until such a time that our nation is matured enough for that,” he said.
The lawmaker stressed the need to amend required areas of the law “so that it can be more effective to provide funds and training for the security agencies to do their job effectively without which we shall continue to face challenges.”
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