Nigeria, on Tuesday, moved another step forward in its quest to establish State Police, as the House of Representatives passed a bill on the matter for second reading.
Sponsored by the Deputy Speaker of the House, Benjamin Kalu and 14 others, the bill seeks to alter the relevant Sections of the 1999 Constitution to pave the way for states to establish their own policing outfits.
As lawmakers took turns to contribute to the debate on the floor of the House during Tuesday’s plenary, Kalu, who stood in for Speaker Abbas Tajudeen, urged members to look beyond political ambitions and think about the safety of Nigeria and her citizens.
In his own contribution, Babajimi Benson (APC, Lagos) said: “It is the job of the police to maintain law and order. We have a population of over 200 million people but we have a police strength that is less than 400,000. State Police should be created to address the internal security challenges of Nigeria.”
At a meeting between President Bola Tinubu and the 36 State governors on Thursday last week, a committee was set up to consider the establishment of State Police in the country to help combat the growing cases of insecurity.
