Kaduna State Governor Uba Sani has said that implementing state policing stands as the only enduring remedy to tackle the rampant insecurity plaguing the North and the entire nation.
Sani shared this perspective while being interviewed on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics program.
Bearing in mind the recent raid on Gindin Dutse Makyali village within the Kufana district of Kaduna State’s Kajuru Local Government Area, carried out by bandits.
Tragically, 12 lives were lost, and nine individuals were left severely injured in the aftermath of the attack.
Speaking on the menace of insecurity, Sani said, ‘In the last six months or thereabout, I have been insisting that we can only address the issue of insecurity if we establish state policing.’
‘I am happy that some few weeks ago some governors joined me in agitating for state police and it was a lone voice.’
‘Some governors have also done a lot in the last few months by establishing or empowering the vigilance services.’
Governor Sani disclosed that normalcy had returned to the affected community and efforts were underway to rescue those abducted by the bandits.
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He also noted that the measures employed by his comrades are ”temporary measures” at best.
The governor said, ‘This can not and can never address the state of insecurity until we agree to collectively agree to establish state police immediately.’
In response to inquiries about the potential implementation of a community police network led by traditional rulers to combat banditry, the governor stood firm, emphasizing that these security structures would be most effective in “intelligence gathering and sharing, with the ultimate objective of bolstering other security agencies.”
‘If you have vigilante service or vigilante groups or you have community policing, where is the law that allows them to carry AK-47,’he said.
Governor Uba Sani pointed out that current laws restrict these groups from obtaining necessary equipment.
In a statement to the press following the meeting, Information Minister Mohammed Idris disclosed that the federal government and state governments had reached an agreement on the importance of establishing a state police force, signaling “a significant shift” in their stance.
Both governments have also reached consensus on the necessity of establishing state police forces to bolster the existing national police force, which comprises over 300,000 personnel.