Governors of the southern region of the country, have maintained their stand on the need for the creation of state police.
The Governors, who met yesterday in Abeokuta, Ogun State, under the auspices of the Southern Governors Forum, reiterated the need to have control over the security architecture of their respective states as the chief security officers.
Speaking on a national television interview, the Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, who just replaced former Ondo governor, the late Rotimi Akeredolu as the chairman of the forum, said the governors of the region are united in their call for state police.
He argued that federal security officers deployed to various states do not understand the local terrain, language or culture of the people, and before they settle down to understand such things, they are transferred to another state, making it difficult to gather intelligence on security issues.
Abiodun stated that it is obvious that the federal police is short of manpower, but with the creation of state police, security operatives who understand the terrain will be able to complement the efforts of the federal officers in curbing insecurity.
The Ogun Governor said: “We all spoke with one voice in support of state policing.
“We spoke with one voice in support of regional security outfits which almost all regions have set up.
“The outfits are working hand in glove with the law enforcement agencies and providing them with intelligence and support.
“We all know that we cannot have any meaningful development in the atmosphere of insecurity.
“We all spoke with one voice in support of state policing, and regional security outfits, working hand-in-glove with the security outfits.
“The governors are called state chief security officers. But, we know that the Commissioner of Police is appointed by the Inspector General of Police and is only answerable to the IG.
“And when the governor needs to call the attention of the CP on an urgent task in his state, the governor will have to first clear with the IG.
“What have we discovered? In most cases, a policeman from Borno, Maiduguri, posted to Lagos or Ogun states, for instance.
“Such an officer doesn’t understand the terrain, he doesn’t speak the language and he does not get the level of intelligence he needs.
“By the time he is settling down to understand these factors, he is transferred to another state.
“We’re calling for community police to tame insecurity in the state and the nation.
“Under the state police arrangement, a policeman posted to his ward won’t have problems with language and intelligence.
“In that case, the policeman understands the community and the locals, language, the sentiments and, he knows the criminals within his territory.
“It is also common knowledge that the federal police have a shortage of manpower.
“We, as governors, are not in charge or control of our states as far as security is concerned.
“Yet, we fund the federal police operations, yet we are not getting the best from them. They don’t have enough personnel.
“State policing is not something new.
“We have several types of policing structure in other climes where we took our democracy from.”
