By Abdallah el-Kurebe, Editor
The National Chairman of the National Conscience Party (NCP), Dr Tanko Yinusa on Saturday in Abuja supported calls for State Police, saying it would help in addressing security challenges in the country.
Observing that one of the advantages of state police was its involvement of persons in the community who know the environment and the people, Yinusa added this would go a long way to assist in addressing the issue of insecurity in communities.
Stressing that there was nothing wrong in the establishment of state and community police, he expressed concern that state police could lead to people carrying arms and using it indiscriminately against citizens and the state.
Yinusa therefore stressed that legislation was necessary to guide against abuse of the police at the level.
“I am for the establishment of State Police; it is a fantastic idea, but we need an enabling law to ensure that people don’t take law into their hands; that is my worry. There is nothing wrong in having a strong policing, but the attitude of our leaders is the problem,” he said.
He also expressed concern that states that had challenges paying workers salary may find it difficult to pay and sustain their own police.
There have been agitations for the establishment of the State Police and such calls had grown in recent months due to insecurity in parts of the country.
The issue is one of those on the front burner in the ongoing amendment of the 1999 Constitution by the National Assembly. With reports by NAN
