Nigeria’s Senate passes bill to allow creation of state police to tackle insecurity

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — The Nigerian Senate on Wednesday approved a bill to allow states to have their own police forces, paving the way for a major reform that would reshape the policing structure of the conflict-racked nation.

The proposed constitutional change will decentralize the country’s police force, which is currently controlled by the federal government, but has been overstretched by an escalating insecurity crisis. The state police forces will operate alongside the federal police.

A lack of police presence in vast rural areas has worsened the country’s security woes, analysts say, allowing militant groups to operate without challenge. Criminal groups and jihadis have killed tens of thousands of people, according to the United Nations.

The change would allow each of the country’s 36 states to create a police force that meets a minimum national requirement while the federal police retains control of counterterrorism, border patrol, organized crime and other national security issues.

The legislation, which enjoys bipartisan support and is being championed by the president, has long been considered a solution to the mushrooming conflicts across the country and has been debated multiple times in the past.

Under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, insecurity has worsened as the militants have started operating in the southern region. At least 80 school children are still in captivity after being abducted by militants in the southern and northern regions of the country.

“In the light of recent mass kidnappings, the calls for a decentralized police have increased due to the sluggish nature of the government’s response to the events, which has been, in part, caused by the structural deficiencies of a centralized policing framework in Nigeria,” Ikemesit Effiong, a partner at SBM Intelligence, a Lagos-based risk advisory firm, said.

State governors are considered the top security chiefs of their states but do not have operational command.

Critics of the state police say it leaves room for abuse by state governors, who can use the force to advance personal agendas and silence critics.

Two-thirds of the state assemblies still have to approve the bill since it includes a change to the constitution.

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