Sanwo-Olu said the call for state police was constitutional and has been pushed at various stakeholders’ levels.
By Jeffrey Agbo
Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has re-emphasised the need for creation of state police in Nigeria.
Mr Sanwo-Olu said on Thursday while receiving a police delegation at the Lagos House, Marina that state police would help governors to protect the life and property of their residents, which they had sworn to, as well as ensure peace and tranquility within their states.
The delegation included the Police Service Commission (PSC) led by the acting chairman, Justice Clara Ogunbiyi (retd).
The governor said that his administration would continue to provide adequate first-class security for the entire local and foreign residents within the state.
“We reiterate and seek your cooperation on our collective agitation for a state police. This is my view and the view of a lot of my colleagues and citizens.
“Giving the age of our democracy, policing at the community level is not only desirable, but it is also important and it is what should be done and what we require.
“We will continue to advocate for State Police. We have said that State Police is not in any form to retrench or reduce whatever the Nigerian Police is doing now.
“There would still be clear responsibility that would be federal in nature; they would still have direct responsibility and oversight to continue to address.
“We also know that if you look at the ratio of policemen to our huge population, we are still far from what it should be.
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“So, for us, it is really another level of employment generation; providing what we are sworn to do, which is the protection of life and property; ensuring there is peace and tranquillity within our state,” he said.
Sanwo-Olu said the call for state police was constitutional and has been pushed at various stakeholders’ levels.
”The population is growing on a daily basis and we need to be proactive to be able to respond and be able to ensure that we don’t have space for criminal-minded people or people that have other intentions within our own territory,” he said.
Sanwo-Olu, who commended the work of the Lagos Police Command led by the State Commissioner of Police, Abiodun Alabi, said his administration would continue to encourage the police to do what was right at all times.
Justice Ogunbiyi commended Sanwo-Olu’s administration on the issue of security, as security remained top-notch in Lagos State.
She called on other states in the country to emulate Lagos’ security situation, which he said was top notch, as ”Lagos is a model of how to handle security situations”.