Niger State Governor, Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello, has said it’s high time states in Nigeria had their police, in view of the increasing population of the country.
The governor said: “State police is an idea, whose time has come because Nigerian population has increased tremendously.”
According to a statement made available to journalists in Minna last Tuesday by the governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Mary Noel Berje, the governor, who was speaking at a security enhancement forum, said: “We can’t continue to avoid the issue of state police forever, even if it’s not now, certainly, it will come to pass because Nigeria’s population has gone beyond 200 million.”
The governor also made a strong case for the incorporation of vigilante into the country’s security architecture to fight against insecurity, but insisted that members of the vigilante “must be properly trained, and people of impeccable characters should be recruited into the group.”
Similarly, Bello said traditional and religious leaders have tremendous roles to play in the fight to contain insecurity across the country because “our religious leaders and traditional rulers have immense influence over worshippers and their subjects
“In tackling kidnapping and banditry, the role of traditional rulers and religious leaders in our society cannot be over-emphasised. Traditional rulers and religious leaders should be supported to effectively check their domains and subjects.”
Bello described bandits and kidnappers “as mere criminals who are not ready to change their criminal behaviours owing to its lucrative nature,” adding that his administration therefore decided not to pay ransom to criminals because these “criminals have grown into a very formidable network with handy informants.
“When we have tip-offs and troops are deployed, the bandits get wind of their movement and relocate.”
