Nigeria’s Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr Kayode Egbetokun has said the country is not “matured” enough for State Police yet.
TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Egbetokun said this on Monday at a national dialogue on state police organised by the House of Representatives in Abuja.
“It is the submission of the leadership of the Nigeria police force that Nigeria is yet to mature and ready for the establishment of state-controlled police,” Egbetokun said.
IGP Egbetokun was represented by AIG Ben Okolo, who delivered the goodwill message of the police boss at the national dialogue.
TNG reports the proposal for State Police is part of the ongoing review of the 1999 Constitution by the 10th National Assembly (NASS).
Speaker of the House, Abbas Tajudeen had on January 30, 2024, at the first plenary of the House in the year, announced plans to convoke a national conference on security.
Consequently, the House, on February 20, 2024, passed for second reading, a bill seeking to create police structures in each of the States of the federation.
The Deputy Speaker, Rt. Hon. Rep. Benjamin Okezie Kalu, and 14 others had sponsored the bill seeking to alter the relevant sections of the 1999 Constitution to empower the States to establish their own policing outfits.
Later on February 26, 2024, Speaker Abbas, at the inauguration of the House Special Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution, noted that state policing was part of the Legislative Agenda of the 10th House.
The dialogue is holding with the theme: ‘Pathways to Peace: Reimagining Policing in Nigeria.’
Details shortly…