Serving senators under the aegis of the Northern Senators Forum declared Friday that the time for the establishment and operation of State Police is now.

The senators, who made the call in a statement signed by the Forum’s Chairman, Senator Abdulaziz Musa Yar’Adua (Katsina Central), specifically urged the Federal Government—through the Presidential Working Group chaired by the Chief of Staff to the President—along with State Governors and State Houses of Assembly, to give prompt attention and concurrence to the State Police Bill currently awaiting ratification.

“Decentralised policing is critical to improving response times and intelligence gathering at the grassroots. We cannot continue to lose innocent lives to insurgents while bureaucracy delays critical security reforms. The time to act is now. The Forum prays for the repose of the souls of the departed and for the speedy recovery of those injured,” the statement read.

Lamenting the latest terror attacks in affected communities of Adamawa and Sokoto States, which claimed 36 innocent lives, the senators commiserated with the victims’ families.

They also urged State and Local Governments to invest in and strengthen community vigilante groups to serve as intelligence partners to the police and military.

“The Northern Senators Forum strongly condemns the recent wave of terrorist attacks in Gaya community, Hong Local Government Area of Adamawa State, and in Ungushi village, Kebbe Local Government Area of Sokoto State, which claimed the lives of over 36 Nigerians, including security personnel and innocent worshippers,” the senators said. (Daily Trust)