State police only solution to insecurity in Nigeria, says Uba Sani

Uba Sani, governor of Kaduna, says a decentralised police force is the only solution to insecurity in the country. 

The Kaduna governor spoke during an interview on Channels Television on Sunday, following recent attacks by bandits on some communities in Kajuru and Kauru LGAs of the state.

On Friday, six people were killed and at least five were abducted when bandits invaded Kwasam community, in Kauru LGA of Kaduna.

In the early hours of Sunday, 11 people were killed during an attack by bandits in Gindin Dutse Makyali village of Kufana district, in Kajuru LGA of Kaduna state.

Residents of the community were still in bed when the invaders launched the attack, burning houses and shooting sporadically.

The Kaduna governor said the state government is working with security agencies to rescue abducted persons.

“In the last few months, we have been having meetings with our core security agencies, comprising the military, the police force, the DSS and our local vigilance service,” Sani said.

“We are also working closely with traditional and community leaders to ensure proper intelligence gathering and sharing and I believe that we would be able to address this issue and rescue those kidnapped in the coming days.

“Additionally, in Kaduna state, plans are ongoing to establish more military forward operation bases following the resurgence of security challenges in the state.”

Sani added that insecurity can only be addressed through the establishment of state police.

“I have always insisted that we need more boots on ground. We can only address the issue of insecurity if we establish state police and I’m happy that some governors have realised that we cannot address this issue alone,” he said.

“You will recall that as a senator, I actually sponsored the creation of state police in the national assembly.

“We took the bill up to the level of conference committee when we were working towards amending the constitution, and the senate agreed and supported me. But when we had the conference committee in the house, unfortunately, we lost it at that stage when we voted 21 to 19.

“The 10th Assembly has a big responsibility to amend the constitution and ensure that we have state police in Nigeria.

“In Kaduna, we added more boots to the Kaduna vigilance service, but this is temporary. We need a more permanent solution.”

The federal government recently set up a committee to explore the creation of state police in Nigeria.