The pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, has renewed its call for the immediate establishment of state police, warning that continued delay could worsen the nation’s security challenges and trigger ethnic conflicts across the country.

The Secretary-General of Afenifere, Chief Sola Ebiseni, made the call in a statement titled “The Imperative of State Police Now,” noting that Nigeria’s current centralised policing structure has left state governments unable to adequately protect lives and property within their territories.

Ebiseni said the country’s federal arrangement had been significantly altered during military rule, particularly through the creation of a centralised police system answerable only to the President through the Inspector-General of Police.

According to him, the arrangement has rendered state governments powerless in addressing security threats and enforcing laws passed by their respective legislatures.

He warned that Nigeria has become a target of international terrorism and stressed that the growing insecurity across the country requires urgent structural reforms, including the establishment of state police.

The Afenifere leader noted that the Nigerian Armed Forces, despite their commitment and sacrifices, are overstretched by multiple security challenges across different parts of the country.

He said the continued deployment of federal security agencies after terrorist attacks has proved inadequate in protecting citizens, especially farmers operating in vast ungoverned spaces.

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Ebiseni cited recent support for state police by the Inspector-General of Police, Tunji Disu, who reportedly submitted a memorandum to the National Assembly advocating constitutional amendments to pave the way for its creation.

He also referenced comments by the Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, who recently expressed support for state police, noting that discussions on the proposal have commenced in the National Assembly.

“If there is any issue on which there is consensus currently in Nigeria, it is that the time for state police is now,” Ebiseni stated.

He, however, rejected suggestions that the establishment of state police should be delayed for several years, insisting that existing regional security outfits could serve as a foundation for the new structure.

According to him, the South-West security network, Amotekun Corps, only requires upgrading, enhanced training, and improved firepower to function effectively as state police.

Ebiseni warned that failure to urgently establish state police could create a dangerous vacuum that may eventually be filled by self-help measures and ethnic-based security responses.

The statement added that “The unnecessary vacuum being created by the intolerable delay in ensuring state police may soon be filled by intractable ethnic wars in response to the natural instincts for self and kindred protection if no urgent and immediate action is taken.

“The fire-brigade deployment of federal security forces after each strike of terror is infeasible and ineffective in the protection of citizens, including particularly farmers scattered in the huge ungoverned spaces across the country, while such permanent engagements strip the military of the awesomeness of its invincibility.

“Let no one be deceived, Nigeria is a deliberate target of international terrorism for an undisguised territorial agenda by people to whom federating state boundaries, national sovereignty and territorial integrity have no meaning.

“The Federal Government should particularly note that terrorism is such a rapacious international scourge that seeking collaboration beyond borders for its equally vicious termination is not tantamount to a surrender of national sovereignty.”

He urged political leaders to treat insecurity as a national challenge rather than a partisan issue, recalling how Nigerians united to confront the COVID-19 pandemic.

While commending the military and other security agencies for their efforts in combating terrorism and insurgency, he cautioned security personnel against any form of involvement in civil governance, emphasising the need to preserve Nigeria’s democratic order.

The Afenifere chieftain maintained that empowering states with constitutional policing powers remains one of the most practical solutions to the country’s worsening security situation. (TRIBUNE)

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