Gov. Abubakar Bello of Niger has advocated the establishment of state police in the country to provide security at the lowest level of the society.
Bello stated this in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mrs Mary Noel-Berje, on Tuesday in Minna.
He made this known when he received delegation of the Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON), led by David Alabi at the Government House, Minna.
Bello said the establishment of the state police would complement the efforts of the Federal Police who are grappling with inadequate manpower and other logistical challenges.
“Now I strongly believe state policing is necessary because we have to take the security down to the lowest level as the Federal Police cannot do it alone.
“So, it is time to allow for the state police that will grow from the bottom-up so that there will be presence of security personnel even at the unit.
“Hopefully, when that is done we will get some peace and more so, that the police will be employed from the communities they know everyone,” he said.
The governor said he did not expect the establishment of the state police to be complicated, adding that even the local governments should have their police too.
“We must break the responsibility from Federal-to-States, and from states-to-local governments.
“Even at the local governments level, they should have their police so that, at all levels, there are some measures of control and, in any case, it shouldn’t be complicated.”
He challenged the leadership of National ALGON to ensure that all chairmen provide robust administration because of their proximity to the people.
According to him, his administration had given financial autonomy to the local governments in the state and was pushing for them to have their allocations directly.
He decried a situation where only about nine local councils could comfortably pay salaries of staff, attributing the failure to over blotted salary pay roll with higher number of ghost workers.
Alabi said they were worried about the unprecedented attack and banditry activities across the country.
“You will agree with me that the panacea for a safe community is this call for the state police and for community policing.
“It is necessary that we should have state police and also the need for the review of allocation sharing formula in favour of states and LGAs when the state police its finally approved because there will be lots of money required for its take-off,” he stated.
He commended Bello for the various road constructions across the 25 LGAs to bring about the desired growth and development of the state.
Alabi called on local government chairmen to be vigilant in their various areas and ensure that there are no security breaches and challenges.
