A Civil Society Organisation (CSO), Cleen Foundation says establishment of state police is key to addressing the increasing level of insecurity in the country.
, the Executive Director of the foundation said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Abuja.
He said the current debate on the establishment of state police was long overdue because of the increasing level of insecurity in the country.
According to him, the Federal Government has no capacity to run a federal system of policing in a large country like Nigeria.
“You need a lot of manpower and resources to be able to police Nigeria effectively which I believe the Federal Government does not have.
“In several states of the country, the governors or the government of the state usually support the police financially and otherwise to about 70 or 80 per cent.
“I think it is time to start considering having a state police since the state governments are taking greater responsibility in the running of the police,” he said.
He said local intelligence was critical to solving the problems of crimes and criminality in the country.
“If you take a Yoruba man from Ogbomosho to Sokoto, he will spend the next one year trying to understand the local language and the dynamics of the area before he starts talking of fighting crimes.
“In the same way, if you take someone from Borno to Onitsha, he will spend the next one or two years trying to understand Ibo language, culture and dynamics before fighting crimes.
“So ,when we have arrangements that work locally, the ability of the police to fight crimes and criminality will be quicker,” he said.
Peter called on the FG to support every state to have their own police, that would be guided by respect for human rights and constitution of the country.