“We strongly believe that if we have state police, we would be able to solve the issues of crime in our nation or reduce it to the minimum” – Obasa.
The Lagos State House of Assembly has opposed the stance of Inspector General of Police (IGP), Olukayode Egbetokun, who stated that Nigeria is not ready for the implementation of state police.
Reacting, Speaker Mudashiru Obasa instructed the House Clerk, Olalekan Onafeko, to write the IGP and the National Assembly, stating that the state lawmakers rejected Egbetokun’s stance.
Obasa’s Chief Press Secretary, Eromosele Ebhomele, revealed the Assembly decision in a statement on Monday.
OrderPaper recalls that Egbetokun had during a one-day dialogue on state policing, with the theme, ‘Pathways to Peace: Reimagining Policing in Nigeria’ in April, opposed the establishment of state police, saying the country was not ripe for it.
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He therefore proposed integrating the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) as a department under the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) rather than establishing a State Police structure.
However, speaking at plenary on Monday, Obasa noted that the FRSC and the NSCDC which the IG suggested could be merged, had not been able to solve the problems of accidents on roads and pipeline vandalism.
He wondered how effective they would be if they were merged with the police force.
“In Lagos State, we have the Security Trust Fund through which successive administrations, starting from that of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, have provided enormous support to the police command in Lagos. Yet, crime of different dimensions has continued.
“This shows that no matter what Egbetokun has proffered as a solution, such won’t solve our problem. The position of the IG is unacceptable,” Obasa said.
He added, “We strongly believe that if we have state police, we would be able to solve the issues of crime in our nation or reduce it to the minimum.
“As we have seen in other climes, the United Kingdom has different levels of policing just like the United States of America. So why should ours be different?”
