Former President Goodluck Jonathan has said the adoption of State Police is the sole remedy to the security crisis confronting the nation.
He made these remarks during a Critical National Dialogue on the Establishment of State Police convened by the House of Representatives in Abuja on Monday, under the theme “Pathways to Peace: Reimagining Policing in Nigeria”.
He said that the 2014 National Conference set up during his administration supported the creation of state police.
In his words, “We don’t need to debate whether we should have state police or not, I think is already settled, there is no way to manage our internal security if the states do not have their police.
“we should concentrate on how to check abuses by state political actors.
“The key area that we need to debate is how we will run the state police to secure the security architecture of the country so that it is most effective and devoid of any political influence.
“If we are talking of state police, we must also rejig the Independent National Electoral Commission, so that the state police would not be used to favor the ruling party
“We have not been able to control the issue of kidnapping since it started, and we need to reduce it to the barest minimum,” he added.
