Insecurity: 400,000 Police Personnel Inadequate – Abbas

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Abbas Tajudeen has said the number of policemen which is placed at about 400,000 is not sufficient to provide security to over 200 million Nigerians.

Speaking during a courtesy call on him by the association of Clerks of State Houses of Assembly yesterday, Abbas who was represented by the Deputy Speaker of the House, Hon Benjamin Kalu said that it is necessary to establish state police.

He said state policing will increase internal security because the operators are already familiar with the terrain they are to police.

Abbas said the establishment of State Police is akin to the amendments made to issues of railway, power amongst others by the 9th National Assembly to enable the states enjoy some constitutional rights under the concurrent list.

He said: “On other key nationally important matters like state police, for example, the House recognizes the diverse perspectives and needs across different states. We believe that through constructive dialogue and a willingness to find common ground, we can arrive at solutions that truly serves the best interests of all Nigerians.

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“Talking about state Police, you will remember also that we did something with the Correctional Services. These are issues that ordinarily fall into the exclusive list of the Constitution of the federal of republic of Nigeria which you had no business tampering with.

“But in the spirit of true federalism, the 9th and 10th Assemblies are determined to bring some of these for better governance to take it from the exclusive list to the concurrent list. We did that with the railway and power in the 9th assembly. The question is, how many of the states have drafted laws, domesticating that in their state?

“Now, the State Police is here. We want to use the legislative intervention to improve the needs in our society. One of our needs is security. And we have tried the one layer police system and they overwhelmed us. The truth remains that 400, 000 policemen, policing over 200 million people can never give you the expected security. It is not even in line with the international best practices on police per citizen policing.”

Earlier in her presentation, the chairman and leadership of the delegation, Rukaiyatu Adamu Jalo told the speaker that their mission to the House was to seek collaboration with the House, appreciate the National Assembly for the passage of the autonomy for state legislature and judiciary bill into law and to understudy the national parliament on the implementation of practice and procedures of legislative business.