George, a guest on Monday’s edition of Channels Television’s Politics Today, has strongly advocated for the introduction of state police to address the rising insurgency in Nigeria.
“The constitutional conference committee under former President Jonathan stated that the need to have state police cannot be futuristic; it is so urgent,” George emphasized.
He elaborated on the nature of the insurgency, explaining, “When you go to war, you have a defined enemy, but in this case, it is an insurgency, insecurity within. You don’t know who is who; they can come out in the day and pretend to be part of one area, but at night they turn out to be something else.”
George argued that local communities are best positioned to police themselves. “What you need are people within their community to police them. They know themselves, they know the do’s and don’ts of that culture, and they know the rules of the people in that culture. So, they would be better off managing any issues within their communities. For God’s sake, we need the state police.”
Calls for state police have intensified in recent years as insecurity has escalated across the country. Political and religious leaders have voiced their support for the initiative at various forums.
In response to these calls, President Bola Tinubu and the governors of the 36 states agreed in mid-February on the necessity of state police as a solution to Nigeria’s security challenges.
About a month later, 16 governors submitted their reports to the National Economic Council (NEC), expressing their support for the creation of state police and the amendment of the 1999 Constitution to accommodate this change. The positions of the remaining 20 governors are still awaited.
