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Renew calls for establishment of State Police

Damilola Aina, Abuja

Daily Courier – Ondo State governor and Chairman, Southern Governors Forum, Arakunrin Rotimi Akeredolu has applauded the recent directive by Zamfara state gov Bello Matawalle to allow citizens bear firearms and protect themselves against bandits.

The governor in a statement signed by SSA, Special Duties & Strategy,
DR Doyin Odebowale, said the directive confirms the pervasive loss of confidence in the current security arrangement the Country, signalling a situation of near- capitulation on the part of the security agencies centrally controlled by the Federal Government.

Part of the statement read, “It is a sad commentary on the increasing inability and impotence of the Zamfara State Government, and other States, to protect their citizens in the wake of relentless and mindless assaults by terrorists and bandits.

“It suggests a total lack of trust between that State Government and Federal Government on one hand, and the helpless and hopeless situation in which the people have found themselves concerning the security of lives, on the other.

“The stark reality confronting the people of Zamfara leaves the Government with no esoteric option than to lean heavily on the current arrangement.

Gov Akeredolu, however, commended the drastic move by Gov Bello Matawalle and directed the commissioner of Police to immediately issue the license to qualified citizens while stressing the inevitable need for the creation of State Police.

“The Governor of Ondo State, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, SAN, commends the boldness of his brother Governor, Bello Matawalle, in his bid to confront the security challenges in his State, adopting a pragmatic approach.

“The directive of the State Governor to the Commissioner of Police to issue licenses to qualified citizens to bear arms in the defense of their immediate environments and the State in general is commendable.

“The deliberate policy of the Federal Government to deny exigent regional security outfits of the rights to bear firearms, when it is evident that the security agencies in the country are overwhelmed and distracted by centrifugal forces, is a major factor, among many, exacerbating the current security challenges in the country.

“A federal system of government cannot be administered as if the country is a unitary colony, controlled, rigidly, at the centre, while the constituent units are treated as mere outposts.

“This fact, coupled with the logic of divergence and rapid growth in population, imposes no other practicable measure on the managers of this country, including our legislators, than to accept the inevitability of the establishment of a State Police.” He submitted.