Senate Moves to Establish State Police to Combat Banditry, Kidnapping

 By: Manoah kikekon 

Senate Leader Reveals Plans for State Police to Tackle Insecurity

Bandits 

The Nigerian Senate has announced plans to draft legislation for the creation of state police as a key strategy to combat rising insecurity, including banditry and kidnapping.  

Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele disclosed this in a statement on Sunday, emphasizing that the National Assembly is developing legal frameworks to empower states in addressing security challenges.  

  

“We urge security agencies to work together as a team to track and apprehend all the masterminds and sponsors of terror attacks nationwide,” said Mr. Bamidele.  

He also called on political leaders to avoid divisive rhetoric, stating:  “Some political actors who always lash out at the country’s challenges to push divisive narratives should learn from the example of Jesus Christ. Such actors are no longer playing opposition politics but simply taking advantage of the country’s internal conditions for their own parochial political outcomes.” 

A State Police Bill, initially sponsored by former Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu (PDP, Enugu), was first introduced in 2018 but failed to pass. The bill seeks to establish: Federal and state police forces, National Police Service Commission and State Police Service Commission.

  

Mr. Bamidele also urged Nigerians to embrace unity, especially in light of recent violence in Benue and Plateau states: “The recent killings outright negated the virtues of peace and love that Jesus Christ taught. No country develops as a result of one section rising up against another."

He encouraged leaders to shun divisive agendas and work towards a stronger, more secure Nigeria.  

(NAN)