Insecurity: Borno, Yobe reject state police

Though among the worst-hit by the continued deterioration of insecurity occasioned by the Boko Haram insurgency, Borno and Yobe have rejected calls for the creation of state police in Nigeria.

The states also did not support the creation of more states and local councils in the country.

The states made their positions known in separate presentations at the ongoing public hearing on the 1999 constitutional review held on Wednesday in Bauchi.

Abdulkareem Lawan, Speaker of the Borno State House of Assembly, stressed that Borno did not need state police because it already had the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF).

In his submission, Saleh Samanja, Yobe’s attorney general, also opposed establishing state police.

“The state police can be abused for political reasons and create more insecurity. Rather, measures should be put in place to encourage community policing under strict supervision,” he said.

While Borno and Yobe rejected creating more states and local councils in the country, Bauchi argued otherwise.

According to Sabiu Baba, Secretary to the Bauchi State Government, the state supports the establishment of state police to reduce the over-dependence of the state governors on federal law enforcement agencies.

He further noted that some states with a much lower population and landmass than Bauchi already had more local government councils.

Therefore, Mr Baba said the state was in support of the creation of a state and additional local governments out of the present Bauchi.

Credit: PG