An assistant inspector-general of police in the department of information and communications, AIG Ben Okolo has said his statement that Nigeria was not ripe for state police was personal and not the views of the inspector-general of police or the Nigeria Police Force (NPF).
In a disclaimer message yesterday, AIG Okolo, who represented the inspector-general of police, IGP Kayode Egbetokun at the conference on national security and state police in Abuja on Monday, said “My expressions on state police at the session held at Abuja Continental Hotel on 22nd April, 2024 are my personal opinions to stimulate the discourse. They are not the views of the inspector-general of police or the Nigeria Police Force.”
At the event, AIG Okolo said the establishment of state police would increase ethnic tension, leading to divided loyalty in the states.
He further said the establishment of state police will also lead to multiple command structures in the states.
He said that state governors are likely to abuse the privilege of state police by using it for political gains, leading to possible abuse of power and abuse of human rights.
AIG Okolo also said that the state government lacks the required funding that will give birth to the type of policing that the nation requires.
He argued that rather than establishing state police, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and the Federal Road Safety Commission should be merged to form a department in the Nigeria Police Force.
He also said there is the need for a yearly recruitment of about 30,000 police personnel into the force annually to meet the UN requirements for modern policing, while also increasing annual budgetary allocation to the force.