The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governors’ Forum has expressed full support for the creation of state police, saying it will address the current security challenges confronting the country.
The Governor of Bauchi State and Chairman of the forum, Bala Mohammed, said this on Thursday when he led his colleagues in the forum on a visit to Gov. Caleb Mutfwang of Plateau at the Government House in Jos.
Mohammed, who decried the rising security challenges across the country, said that state police would complement the efforts of the conventional security agencies.
According to him, state police will provide opportunity for governors to handle the security situation in their respective states with ease.
”The ratio of police to the citizens is very low and the governors know the peculiarity of their states and how to tackle this challenge. So, we have been advocating for this.
“There is need for the decentralisation of the security apparatus so that we can deliver good governance by having state police.
”Again, it will give us the opportunity to engage the structure of the security agencies, training our youths and making sure the rules of engagement are not abused and there is no extrajudicial killings.
”We will work in tandem with the established best global practice than being forced to be using vigilante and even at that we are working with the security agencies, but we are still being accused of pursuing our interest.
”We can see what is happening in Zamfara and the Amotekun in the South-West where citizens are sleeping with their eyes closed,” he said.
Mohammed further said that PDP had always stood for good governance, in spite of the lean resources at their disposal.
He gave assurance that residents of PDP-controlled states would continue to enjoy the dividend of democracy.
Responding, Mutfwang thanked his colleagues for the solidarity visit, adding that it would further encourage the people to be firm at all times.
He said that the failure of previous administrations in the country toward tackling insecurity further aggravated the situation.
”Insecurity has become a serious challenge for us in this country and this is largely due to the neglect of previous governments.
”No one has been jailed in the past for these killngs, which is why it has lingered.
”But we are not deterred. We will rebuild trust in our people because the lack of it has been one of the major issues,” Mutfwang said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Govs. Ademola Adeleke of Osun, Sheyi Makinde of Oyo State, Ahmadu Fintiri of Adamawa, Peter Mbah of Enugu State and Godwin Obaseki of Edo were part of the visit.
The forum donated N100 million to Plateau Government to support the victims of recent attacks in the state. (NAN)