Senate Working On State Police- Senate Leader Bamidele

The National Assembly is working on a legislation for the establishment of state Police, according to the Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele.

Bamidele made the remark in his Easter message to Nigerians on Sunday.

in  a statement issued through  his Directorate of Media and Public Affairs, the lawmaker said state police will assist in tackling the nation’s security problems.

He spoke amidst security challenges posed to the country by armed groups such as bandits and terrorists, which according to some  states governors, is now beyond them to tackle.

For instance, the Governor of Plateau state Caleb Manasseh Mutfwang while reacting to the recent killings in his state, in which over 150 persons have so far been killed by suspected herdsmen, solicited the support of the federal government to tackle the problem.

Also, the governor of Benue state Rev Fr Hyacinth Alia  had last week called for federal government’s support in the wake of attacks on his state by suspected Fulani herdsmen which left dozens of people killed.

Not a few insist that through State Police state governors will have more powers to confront insecurity in there states, without necessarily deferring to the government at the centre which currently controls the Police and other security agencies.

They insist that state governors, in spite of their Chief Security Officer status have been hamstrung in tackling insecurity in their domains because they have no control over the security agencies in the country such as the Police.

According to Bamidele, the NASS has decided to provide the legal support for the establishment of State Police, believing that this will go a long way to ending some security challenges facing the country.

The senator however urged the nation’s security agencies to synergise to end the activities of some criminal elements disturbing the peace of Nigerians, he warned political actors in the country to stop weaponizing the current situation in the country for their pecuniary gains.

He said, “The Authority of the National Assembly is in the process of developing legal frameworks for the establishment of state police as one of the measures to address insecurity in the country.

“We urge security agencies to work together as a team to track and apprehend all the masterminds and sponsors of terror attacks nationwide.

“We appeal to some political actors that always lash on the country’s challenges to push divisive narratives to learn from the example of Jesus Christ.

“Such actors are no longer playing opposition politics, but simply taking advantage of the country’s internal conditions in the pursuit of their own parochial political outcomes.”

For many years, not a few Nigerians have demanded the establishment of State Police as part of the restructuring of the country, but antagonists insist that State Governors are likely to use it to harass the opposition.