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From Adesuwa Tsan, Abuja
A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Ayodele Arise, has urged the Presidency to collaborate with state governors to get their support for state policing.
Senator Arise made the suggestion yesterday while speaking on a live programme on Arise TV. His statement came amid calls by President Bola Tinubu for the creation of state police to address persistent insecurity across the country.
Tinubu had, at an interfaith breaking of fast event with the leadership and members of the Senate at the State House, Abuja, declared that the time had come for lawmakers to “start thinking” about embedding state policing in the Constitution to enable governments at subnational levels better secure He said: “Nigeria is extremely challenged, we are facing terrorism, banditry, insurgency, but you never failed to make a right response to these calls. What I will ask for tonight is for you to start thinking how best to amend the Constitution to incorporate the state police for us to secure our country, take over our forests from marauders, and free our children from fear.”
He also reiterated the call on Friday when he met with the leadership of the House of Representatives.
Reacting to the development, Senator Arise maintained that a section of the country had been opposed to the proposal, but effective communication of the gains of state policing was necessary to get their buy-in.
His words: “In the interest of our country and in response to the security challenges that we have been facing, President Tinubu has always seen the merit in state policing which is actually the best way that we can deter criminals and their cells that exist in our communities without even knowing it.
“The local police are easily able to identify a strange situation and put intelligence to work, do their investigation and before they are able to do damage because they are trained to know everybody because they relate with everyone like a family. So that has been the major attraction of state and local policing.
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“Now, in terms of the National Assembly, I am sure you know that the President is a very strategic person in his thinking and a number of policies that we think would not pass the National Assembly, he has been able to achieve them. I don’t see any problem with the National Assembly.
“I only will encourage a lot of education about the pros and cons of state police to be actually done in terms of marketing to those who were initially opposed to it. I said initially because in 2010 when we tried to introduce State Police in constitutional amendment, we had opposition, those who were against it but I believe now people have seen the benefits of having security because lives are being threatened, communities are being almost annihilated and of course we see attacks everywhere.
“Nobody wants to waste his life and so whatever the President can do, I believe, is one of his very good strategies to ensure that the security of lives and property of Nigerians are guaranteed.
“I will suggest to the National Assembly, the area of amendment is section 214 which can be done by first moving policing to the Concurrent List. That will solve the problem; the Federal will have its police while the states can have their police. People must understand that the fact that we have state police doesn’t completely erase the federal police.
“I believe that has been a major problem with some of our leaders with state police because they couldn’t understand why they will easily surrender all these enormous powers which invariably at the end of the day amounts to nothing because if the job isn’t being done, we are all in a sort of risk.
S, once section 214 is removed you will now go to the states for ratification because as we all know we need two-third majority of the 36 states for this to happen. I believe that with the states, even some federal legislators in some states are finding it difficult to travel home easily. So because of that nobody will need too much persuasion before they buy into this idea. Of course there will still be public hearings and anybody that has any reason to believe that it isn’t too good for the country should come forward and let us debate it to see how this country can move forward in a very short period.”
He expressed confidence that it is not too late for state police to be passed in the ongoing constitution amendment exercise with a comfortable majority in both chambers of the National Assembly parliament and the ruling party’s control of the majority of the 36 states.
