Lagos State is prepared for the establishment of a state police, according to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu. He also notes that the state has at least 10,000 personnel who will be deployed right away if the National Assembly and the Federal Government finalize the constitutional requirements pertaining to the creation of a state police.
In a media chat on Thursday, Sanwo-Olu expressed his excitement for the establishment of state police in the nation.
As per his statement, members of the Lagos Neighborhood Safety Corps (LNSC), a security organization in uniform founded by a Lagos State House of Assembly legislation in 2016, would be drafted to join the state police.
Sanwo-Olu declared, “I support it.” We really needed it yesterday, in my opinion. The intriguing part is that there are still 6,000 Neighborhood Watch stations in existence. The good news is that we can hire an extra 4,000 of them because I approved it. And this is a task for our young men who are physically fit.This implies that, should they approve state police, I will have 10,000 men under my command who I can further train and prepare—people who are familiar with every inch of the neighborhood, including its hidden corners.
The governor emphasized, “I am waiting for it,” and said that the guys of the neighborhood watch will go above and above if given the authority to use assault guns.
As Sanwo-Olu previously stated, “You can imagine what happens if that is turned around to a proper security agency.” They “provide intelligence at our state security meetings.”
Since the Seventh National Assembly, state police have been a source of controversy and have not successfully completed the amendment phase.
A bill to amend the Constitution to create a state police force passed second reading in the House of Representatives this week.
President Bola Tinubu and the 36 state governors discussed the establishment of a state police force last week as a means of addressing the dangerous security issues such as kidnapping and banditry that are pervasive throughout the nation.
The State Police Mission
State police have been regularly asked for by regional socio-political groupings including Afenifere, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Middle Belt Forum, and the Northern Elders’ Forum as a way to address the nation’s growing security concerns.
States in the South-West geopolitical zone have already established the Amotekun, and their South-East counterparts have established the state-owned security organization Ebube Agu. While states such as Katsina, Zamfara, and other bandit-prone sub-nationalities have also developed comparable state-established units, the Benue Guards have been functioning in Benue State in the North Central region.
But these groups haven’t been as successful as expected because the federal government and the presidency don’t support them, and states still want permission to arm Amotekun, Ebube Agu, and other people with assault rifles like AK-47s so they can fight off marauders with deadly weapons.