State policing may be a reality soon if the recommendations of Vice President Yemi at the national security summit see the light of the day. VP Osinbajo made the recommendation during the kickoff of a two-day joint summit between the executive and legislative arms on Thursday in Abuja. The summit is aimed at reviewing the current security infrastructure in Nigeria and is coming at a time when the country is faced with various security challenges, which include killings by herdsmen and cult related killings in some part of the country.
Delivering his opening remarks, Senate President Bukola Saraki stated that the summit became necessary following escalating threats to the peace and security of Nigeria. He said: “The coming together of the Executive and Legislative arms of government for this discussion about security, is a pointer to the seriousness of the situation, and our determination to tackle the problem.
“The sharp increase in murderous violence, over and above the relatively manageable level of insecurity that has plagued our country for some time, jolted us out any last vestiges of complacency or denial. “There can be no denying the horrific reality in many parts of our country today. People who should be neighbors are turning on one another and taking up arms. These attacks and reprisal attacks are an intolerable cycle of hell that must be broken.”
Also speaking at the summit, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo called for the establishment of state and community policing to curtail arms being smuggled into the country. “We must avoid the danger of allowing this conflict to escalate further to religious or ethnic conflict, this is the responsibility of political and religious elites in Nigeria,” the vice president added.
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