At the closing of the two-day summit on national
security organised by the Senate, state governors and the federal parliament
have agreed to allow states to have their police.
They backed Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo who
stated at the opening of the event on Thursday that state police was “the way
to go.”
Participants, who included the leadership and
members of the Senate, governors and service chiefs, as well as community,
religious and traditional leaders, also raised the issue of restructuring and
true federalism at the summit.
Strong indications emerged after the summit that
some issues raised might come up as amendment bills to alter the constitution.
Speaking with journalists at the NAF Centre Abuja
venue, Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum and Governor of Zamfara State,
Abdulaziz Yari, said governors called for the decentralisation of the country’s
police.
He said, “The takeaway from this summit is that
the Vice-President raised some of the key discussions on that day – 17th
August, 2017 – about state police. Yes, the state police issue is something
that we have agreed on in 2011 and 2015 during constitution amendments.
“Today, we have reiterated the position of the
Vice-President and the position of the security summit that we held in August
that there is the need for state police and we say it is the only answer.”
Yari recalled that a participant asked how state
police would succeed when the military had been deployed in communities where
there were agitations but failed.
The governor said his response was that the
military were trained for external aggressions and not for internal security
operations.
“Internal security is supposed to be handled and
managed by the police but the police of today are inadequate. There are about
four million people in Zamfara State but we have less than five thousand
policemen. If you look at the ratio, it is far below international standards.
Therefore, we, the governors, agree that we can fine-tune the issue of state
police,” Yari added.
The governor dismissed the fear of possible abuse
of state police by governors as raised by some of the participants. He said the
judiciary had been operating freely under governors, which was an indication
that state police would also grow under the control of the states.
Yari also noted the fears expressed by some
states governors on the cost implication of having state police. He said the new
system would be introduced in phases, starting with states that had the
financial capability.
Also, the Minority Leader of the Senate, Godswill
Akpabio, said most of the participants agreed on the decentralisation of the
police.
He said the lawmakers might review the
constitution to effect devolution of powers and accommodate state police.
He noted security had been centralised, adding
that the population of the country had increased from 60 million in 1960
to 200 million, noting that “the number of policemen cannot police the
entire country and provide security for Nigerians.
“Therefore, there is the need to decentralise
that aspect and that comes under devolution of powers. We may need to review
the constitution to bring security under the concurrent list of the legislature
so that it will be easy for the states to set up something that will be in line
with proper guidelines. State policing has been accepted by all and sundry. I
have not seen anybody speaking against it. I think that is one major thing we
can take out of this summit. The centralisation of the police can no longer
work with the kind of population that we have today.”
The former Governor of Akwa Ibom State also said
the participants agreed on establishment of ranches and grazing reserves as the
grazing routes created for nomadic herdsmen had been blocked with structures
due to development of towns and cities over the years.
“The implication now is that with the current
population growth in the country, there is now a lot of competition among the
cows, the grass and infrastructure. If the routes do no longer exist, we have
to modernise the system,” he added.
Also, Senator Adamu Aliero, a former Governor of
Kebbi State, said the stakeholders had an extensive debate on the spate of
insecurity in Benue State and other parts of the country where people were
being killed by herdsmen.
“We all decided that measures must be taken to
stop further killings and the only way to do it is to have synergy between the
security agencies. Even the governors have agreed that state police is the way
to go. It is quite consistent with what the Vice-President has suggested,” he
said.
In his submission, Senator Victor Umeh said some
participants at the 2014 national conference, who were also at the summit,
decried the non-implementation of the report produced by the confab.
He said, “At the summit, issues of the national
conference of 2014 came up. Why can’t we implement the recommendations of that
conference? Some of the leaders who came here were at the national conference.
You talked somewhere and abandoned the resolutions somewhere, only to come here
and start to talk again. When are the solutions going to be found?”
Umeh also said ethnic nationalities and
geopolitical zones expressed their grievances at the meeting, especially the
alleged marginalisation of the South-East in federal appointments and proposed
stoppage of amnesty programme for militants in the Niger Delta.
He said, “Those who have not been treated well,
when they are complaining; don’t think because you are comfortable today,
others are making noise. If you find grievances that are genuine, find a way of
addressing them.”
Buhari promises solutions to security
challenges
President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday said his
administration was working on solutions that could stand the test of time to
tackle the nation’s security challenges.
He added that he was committed to ensuring that
such solutions would earn the confidence of Nigerians.
Buhari made the promise in a message he posted on
his verified Twitter handle, @MBuhari, shortly after he held another round of
meetings with the nation’s security chiefs.
He said he fully understood the seriousness of
the security issues bedevilling the nation.
“Today, I presided over a meeting of the Security
Council. We fully understand the seriousness and urgency of Nigeria’s security
issues, and are determined to implement carefully considered solutions that
will not only earn the confidence of Nigerians, but also stand the test of
time,” the President wrote.
Buhari also said one of the resolutions at the
meeting was that security agencies must take intelligence gathering and sharing
more seriously.
He said the Department of State Services and the
Nigeria Police Force were specifically directed to wake up on the issue.
He also promised that all those arrested in
relation to killings in parts of the country would be prosecuted.’’
He wrote, “Our law enforcement agencies must at
all times stay ahead of bandits and criminals, wherever they are across the
country, by efficiently gathering, sharing and acting on credible intelligence.
I am assuring (you) that we will give them all the support needed to succeed.
“Let me also assure (you) that all persons
arrested so far, including those arrested for illegally possessing arms, will
be duly prosecuted.”
The meeting which was also attended by
Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo was held at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The Secretary to the Government of the
Federation, Boss Mustapha; Minister of Defence, Mansur Dan-Ali; Minister
of Interior, Abdulrahman Dambazau; Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey
Onyeama and the National Security Adviser, Maj.-Gen. Babagana Monguno (retd) ,
also attended.
The meeting was an expanded one as the number of
participants was extended to accommodate the heads of the Nigeria
Immigration Service, Nigeria Customs Service, Nigeria Fire Service, Federal
Road Safety Corps, Nigeria Prisons Service and the Nigeria Security and Civil
Defence Corps.
These are apart from the service chiefs and the
Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, who meet with the President
regularly.
Service chiefs who attended the meeting are the
Chief of Defence Staff; Gen. Gabriel Olonisakin; Chief of Army Staff; Lt.-Gen.
Tukur Buratai; Chief of Naval Staff, Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas; and the Chief of
Air Staff, Sadique Abubakar; Director-General of the Department of State
Services, Lawal Daura; and the Director-General of the Nigeria Intelligence
Agency, Ahmed Abubakar.
None of those who attended the meeting was
willing to speak with State House correspondents when approached for comments.
As of the time of filing this report, the
Presidency had not issued an official statement on the meeting.
