State Police have come to stay, says new IGSets up committee for take-off

By Omolade Adegbuyi
In what represents a radical departure from the past, the new Inspector General of Police, Tunji Disu has set up the committee that would work out modalities for state police. The President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu swore in Disu on Wednesday. He is from Lagos State and has been commended for a career built on honesty and transparency. Disu said after his swearing in ceremony ‘State police has come to stay, and the police should be able to do their own part in making it succeed. The police are not afraid. Our jobs are not being taken. It’s just an issue of partnership.’ .
Tinubu had reiterated his commitment to establishing state police citing security concerns. The President reechoed his view during the breakfast with State Governors last week Wednesday in Abuja.
The Chairman of the Steering committee is the former Director General, National Institute for Police Studies. The Secretary of the Committee is CP Bode Ojajuni.
Other members of the Committee are DCP Okebechi Agora, DCP Suleyman Gulma, ACP Ikechukwu Okafor, CSP Tolulope Ipinmisho and CP Emmanuel Ojukwu (retd.). The Nigeria Police Force began in 1861 when a 30-member consular guard was established in Lagos. It grew to 100 in 1862 and to some 600 in 1863 then to 1,200 members at the time referred to as Hausa Constabulary. On April 1930, the Northern and Southern Nigeria Police forces were merged

At the Abuja breakfast meeting, Tinubu had urged the Senate to get ready to amend the constitution to guarantee State Police. Efforts in the past have been half-measured with suspicion that the police hierarchy and primordial ethnic interests vehemently stand against State Police.
At the inauguration, Disu said the committee will examine the concept of state police and work out modalities for its implementation.
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Disu said “Among other responsibilities, the committee is expected to review existing policing models within and outside Nigeria, assess community security needs and emerging risks across the country, propose an operational framework for the establishment and coordination of State Police structures, address issues relating to recruitment, training, standards, and resource allocation and develop robust accountability and oversight mechanisms to ensure professionalism and public trust.”
Defending State Police, Disu said the initiative will ensure a more effective crime detection and prevention mechanism. “This collaborative arrangement will encourage specialisation, strengthen professionalism, and ultimately deliver more effective security outcomes for our citizens,” he added.
He said the committee will develop the Nigeria Police Force’s position on state police.
He said, “The committee was set up early this morning to look into the issue of State Police from the angle of the Nigeria Police.
“We don’t want it to seem as if others are taking decisions, and we, the most important people concerned, did not do anything. We want to ensure that the best thing is done,” the IG stated.
In attendance at the event were the Vice President Kashim Shettima, cabinet members, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume; National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu; Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila; Minister of Police Affairs, Senator Ibrahim Gaidam; FCT minister, Nyesom Wike; and Head of Service, Mrs. Esther Walson-Jack.