Nigerian states are still beset by insecurity, but it seems that the federal government has finally come around to the idea of establishing state police.
The formation of a committee to start laying the foundation for the creation of state police was approved yesterday at a meeting with 36 state governors held at the State House in Abuja. Other attendees included ministers, Vice President Kashim Shettima, the national security adviser (NSA), the inspector general of police (IGP), and the director general of the Directorate of State Service (DSS).
In a statement released by his spokesperson, Ajuri Ngelale, President Bola Tinubu authorized the formation of a group made up of federal and state government members and state governors.
The committee’s mandate would include investigating potential state police establishment strategies. In order to protect the natural and human resources in nearby villages, he also supported subnational governments’ training and equipping of forest rangers.
This occurred in response to the seemingly unsolvable security issues that Nigeria was facing, particularly those involving terrorism, banditry, kidnapping, rustling, and communal violence. Decentralization of the nation’s policing structure has been called for more and more, most notably by the governor of the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party.
