The Nigeria Police Force (NPF) have objected to the creation of state police, arguing that the country does not have the resources and infrastructure required for such a restructuring of the force.
Kayode Egbetokun, Inspector General of Police (IGP), made this statement on Monday at a national dialogue on state police organised by the House of Representatives in Abuja.
The theme of the dialogue is, ‘Pathways to Peace: Reimagining Policing in Nigeria’.
Represented by Ben Okolo, Assistant Inspector-General of Police, Egbetokun said Nigeria is not ripe for the establishment of state police due to lack of adequate resources in place for police infrastructure.
He also said that state governors might exploit the advantage of state police for political purposes, potentially resulting in power misuse and human rights violations.
Furthermore, he contended that individual state governments lack the necessary funding to establish the level of policing the country needs.
He, however, recommended the merging of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and the Federal Road Safety Commission to form a department in the Nigeria Police Force.
He also said there is a need for a yearly recruitment of about 30,000 police personnel into the force to meet the United Nations requirements for modern policing, while also increasing annual budgetary allocation to the force.
The issue of state police has been a continuous debate in the Nigeria political and socioeconomic landscape for over a decade.