Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has stressed that the establishment of state Police is the only solution to the rising cases of insecurity and activities of bandits in the country.
The governor stated this at the Federal Government Town Hall Meeting on National Security, which took place at the Kaduna State University on Thursday.
While urging security forces to take the war to the terrorists in forests that had been taken over by them, El-Rufai reiterated his call for the establishment of state police.
He said, “These bandits have lost their right to life under our constitution and must be wiped out in their entirety. There is no other way to approach the current insurgency situation today as far as governmental action is concerned.”
On the state police, El-Rufai said a situation where state bore most of the burden of the running costs of federal police was unacceptable but the devolution of more power and responsibilities to states would be of help.
He said, “Centralised policing in a federation is a contradiction. The state governments today bear most of the burden of the running costs of the federal police anyway, so why not the state police now. So I repeat my persistent call for state police as soon as possible.
“We should also devolve more responsibilities and duties to the states to enable greater accountability and minimise the habit of blaming the Federal Government for every ill in Nigeria. We should therefore expeditiously amend the Constitution to vest all on-shore minerals, including petroleum in the states now.”
