Governance

‘All State Governor Are In Support Of Policing At Local Levels’ – Fayemi

Published

3 years ago

Nov 29, 2021.

Governor Fayemi states that all state governours in the country are in support of policing at local level
Nothing can stop multi-level policing in Nigeria
…Says governors buy diesel, vehicles, others for federal police
…Allays fear of possible abuse

EKO HOT BLOG reports that Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi, has said that all state governors are in support of policing being developed at the local level.

Fayemi, who is the Chairman of, Nigerian Governors Forum, NGF, said that state policing is an idea whose time has come.

According to him, “devolving policing to various levels, including the local level, is the only solution to the myriad of security challenges facing the country.”

Fayemi stated this in Lagos on Monday while delivering the convocation lecture at the Nigerian Institute of Journalism, NIJ, Ogba.

He said multi-level policing, which would give birth to state police, is an idea that nothing can stop even if it is delayed now.

He spoke on the topic “Media, security and nation-building.”

‘As the Chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum, I don’t know of any state governor who is not in support of policing being devolved to local levels. There must be multi-level policing. It is an idea whose time has come. The excuse that state governors don’t have the resources to fund such is a fallacy.

“Right now, state governors are the ones funding federal police in their states. We buy vehicles, diesel, give them allowances and provide insurance cover for them. The only thing state governors don’t have over the federal police is control over them. If you want the Commissioner of Police in your state to do something for you as a governor, he will politely tell you he has heard you and that he would go and put things together in his office. He is not going there to put anything together but to call the Inspector General of Police and tell him of your propositions. If the IGP gives him the go-ahead, he would come back and say everything is ready, and if you don’t hear any feedback from him, his boss probably did not give him the go-ahead.

“Multi-level policing does not mean the removal of the federal police. They will be handling federal crimes such as terrorism. But there are some things you don’t need to take to Abuja to be able to deal with them. People at local levels know every nook and cranny of their community, unlike somebody you just bring in from say Kaura Namoda.

“Multi-level policing will happen one day in this country. It is one sure way to tackle the numerous security challenges we face now. To say governors would use them to harass opposition is false. Federal police harass people too. I was a victim of such harassment even as a sitting governor in 2014,” he said.

On the impact the South-West regional security outfit, Amotekun, has made since its take off in some states, Fayemi noted that without the group, the situation in the region would have been more unpleasant.

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