Governor Henry Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State has backed the decision of the Federal Government for the creation of state police.
Dickson said that the prevailing security situation and the need for an effective response to the current crime challenge have made it mandatory for the establishment of state police in the society.
The governor’s comments follow the declaration by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo that it had become difficult for the Federal Government to provide security for the country from Abuja in view of the fact that Nigeria had failed to meet the United Nations requirement of a policeman to 400 people.
Dickson said that removing the police from the exclusive list and putting its operations under a more effective arrangement at the level of the state would put a stop to the widespread killings and crimes in the country.
He explained that state police would be effective as the personnel would be drawn from the various states and would easily access valuable information required to track crime and criminals.
The governor added that the current federally-controlled police had become overstretched due to wide ratio of the police to the rapid increase in population.
He said: “It has become very clear that the decision of the Federal Government to establish state police should be supported. I am of the view that the decision can only tame the growing scourge of crime and criminality in our communities.
“The advantages of having the police at the state level are many. These people will come from the state and I am of the view that their capacity to access the requisite intelligence to fight crime will be stronger.
“So, the time to establish state police, as recommended in the report of the 2014 Constitutional Conference and the recent report of the All Progressives Congress, is now.”
Dickson also reiterated his call for the establishment of a multi-party committee on restructuring.
He said that the committee should be entrusted with the responsibility of working out the final details for the executive arm to sponsor the requisite bills to the National Assembly to ensure a sincere implementation of the recommendations of the El Rufai Committee’s report.
The Bayelsa Governor said that the country was in need of a multi party committee to examine, discuss, agree and come up with draft legislation bill to be jointly sponsored at the National Assembly.
He called on the government to commence steps to mobilize national consensus to engage the National Assembly to pursue implementation of the El Rufai Committee’s reports before the 2019 general elections.
