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The Chief Ayo Adebanjo faction of the pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, has reiterated its call for the creation of state police in Nigeria.
The group noted that state police will help solve the country’s insecurity challenges.
This was contained in a communiqué issued after the group’s meeting, held at the residence of its leader in Isanya Ogbo, Ogun State.
The communiqué, issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Prince Justice Faloye, was made available to PUNCH Online on Sunday.
The communiqué read, “Afenifere reiterates that the Nigerian security architecture of a single police command is antithetical to the ideal, reality, and practice of federalism, particularly in the case of Nigeria, with its large population and vast territory.
“This unfortunate situation has continued to exacerbate the deplorable state of internal security, highlighting the Nigerian Police’s inability to cope, which has, in turn, placed undue pressure on the armed forces. The situation has worsened to the extent that the Chief of Defence Staff has had to deploy members of the armed forces for routine police and civil duties, including coverage of peaceful protests and election assignments.
“Centralising the enforcement and control of both federal and state laws undermines the nation’s efficiency by disregarding the benefits of a division of responsibilities. It cannot be overstated that the fundamental solution to Nigeria’s internal insecurity is the introduction of state police.”
The group also commended the establishment of the Dangote refinery and urged the Federal Government to use the success of the refinery as motivation to revitalise the country’s four moribund refineries to reduce the high cost of petrol.
“The operation of the Dangote refinery is a welcome development, but Afenifere believes that the removal of collateral expenses should make the price of products from the refinery, procured from locally sourced crude, far cheaper and more affordable than they currently are.
“Nigerians have not been informed of the beneficial effects of the monopoly of Dangote’s products’ distribution by the NNPCL. The success of the Dangote initiative should encourage the NNPCL to revitalise its own refineries and encourage the Federal Government to liberalise local production by supporting small-scale and modular refineries, with proper quality control supervision,” the statement read.
