President Muhammadu Buhari and Niger Delta activist, Onengiye Erekosima have opposed the idea of the creation of state police in the country, saying its creation was not an option for the nation.
Several Governors had called for state policing as a way to solve insecurity across the country.
But, President Buhari while speaking in an interview with Channels television alluded to the propensity for Governors to abuse their powers as his argument against state police.
“State police is not an option,” he said. “Find out the relationship between local government and the Governors. Are the third tier of government getting what they are supposed to get constitutionally? Are they getting it? Let the people in local government tell you the truth, the fight between local governments and the Governor.”he said.
On the security situation in the country, the President said traditional rulers must play a huge role in bringing peace to communities.
He also advocated for more dialogue in solving the farmer-herder clashes recorded across the country.
“The role of traditional rulers must not be undermined, because in their areas they know who is who, even by families, not to even talk of individuals,” he said.
“So, we have to revert to that system for us to have effective security in the localities”.
“For example, there were two Governors that came to see me about problems – Oyo state and one other state – because the herders were in their forests but the animals were going into the neighbouring farms, and eating the crops; I said, as far as I know, the farmers and herders have been co-existing in Nigeria for generations. Let them go and ask the local leadership what has gone wrong, why the break in communication between the local leadership and the herders”, the President stated.
On his part while speaking with newsmen in Abuja, the President of Foundation For Peace and NonViolence in Nigeria, Onengiya Erekosima, warned that creating a state police such as Amotekun in the South-West and its likes would be a time bomb that would destroy the Nigerian state.
This, he said, was because Nigeria as at now is not ripe for creating a state police.
“The creation of regional security outfit is very unacceptable and it is a call for crisis and commotion”, he opined.
