On Tuesday, the House of Representatives approved a bill for the nation’s state police to be established for second reading.
The bill, which has 14 sponsors including Benjamin Kalu, the deputy speaker of the house, aims to change the appropriate sections of the 1999 constitution to allow states to create their own law enforcement agencies.
In place of Speaker Abbas Tajudeen, Kalu encouraged members to put Nigerians’ safety above political aspirations during Tuesday’s plenary session of the House. Lawmakers took turns contributing to the debate on the House floor.
Babajimi Benson (APC, Lagos) also spoke, stating that upholding peace and order is the responsibility of the police. Despite having a population of nearly 200 million, we have fewer than 400,000 police officers. Nigeria’s internal security issues ought to be addressed by the establishment of the State Police.