Tinubu just like his predecessor and fellow APC chieftain, Buhari is yet to fully back state-owned security outfit
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and state governors in Nigeria are considering the creation of state police to curb the worrying state of insecurity in the country.
According to Channels TV, the deliberation on the matter took place at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Thursday.
Confirming the development while briefing journalists after the meeting, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, explained that the process is still in its infancy and would only take shape after more deliberations between stakeholders.
“Now, there is also a discussion around the issue of state police. The Federal Government and the state governments are mulling the possibility of setting up state police,” he said.
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He added: “Of course, this is still going to be further discussed. A lot of work has to be done in that direction. Both the Federal Government and the state governments agree on the necessity of having state police. Now this is a significant shift. But as I said, more work needs to be done in that direction.
“A lot of meetings will have to happen between the Federal Government and the sub-nationals to see the modalities of achieving this. Now, these are some of the issues that have been discussed.”
Prior to the parley, there have been clamour for state police as Nigeria grapples with serious security challenges such as kidnapping and banditry.
Already, states in the South-West geopolitical zone have formed state-owned security outfit codenamed Amotekun while their counterparts in the South-East also created Ebube Agu.
Benue State in North Central came up with Benue Guards, while states like Katsina, Zamfara and other bandit-prone sub-nationals have also come up with similar state-established outfits.
However, these outfits have not been as effective as anticipated because they are yet to receive the full backing of the Federal Government and President Tinubu