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The Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Olatunji Disu, has rejected claims that the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) is behind the delay in establishing state police.
Disu, who was represented by the Deputy Inspector-General of Police (DIG) Kenechukwu Onwuemelie in charge of the South East, denied the allegation on Tuesday in Anambra, during a stakeholders’ meeting on security.
According to him, the state police, when established, would enhance the NPF’s efforts to prevent and fight crime.
“The power to create the state police is a constitutional issue that resides with the National and State Assemblies,” he said.
“When the National Assembly make provision to amend the law establishing the NPF, and go on to amend it, then two-third of the State Assemblies must consent to it.”
He further urged security agencies, traditional rulers, religious leaders, community leaders, Civil Society Organisations, among others, to be patient, as the National Assembly was doing everything possible to establish the state police.
The stakeholders urged the Nigerian Government to expedite action in the establishment of state police, to improve national security from the grassroots.
They also called for better equipment, training, and improved welfare for the police and the vigilance group to enhance security across the country.
The bill seeking to establish state police seeks to amend the 1999 Constitution (as amended) to permit individual states to establish and operate their own police services alongside the Nigeria Police Force.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has transmitted the bill to the Senate.
