Just In: Lagos Assembly Tackles IGP, Rejects Position On State Police
The Lagos State House of Assembly has expressed its disapproval of the Inspector-General of Police, Olukayode Egbetokun’s stance against the establishment of state police.
Speaker Mudashiru Obasa directed the Clerk of the House to convey the lawmakers’ rejection of Egbetokun’s position to him and the National Assembly.
Recall that IGP Egbetokun had argued at a recent dialogue on state policing that state police would exacerbate ethnic tension and divided loyalty. He suggested merging the Federal Road Safety Corps and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps with the police force instead.
However, Speaker Obasa countered that merging these agencies would not effectively address issues like road accidents and pipeline vandalism.
He emphasized that Lagos State has consistently supported the police through the Security Trust Fund, yet crime remains a persistent problem.
Obasa asserted that state police would enable more effective crime prevention and solution, citing examples from the UK and the US.
He urged the National Assembly to continue pursuing constitutional amendments to establish state police.
“In Lagos State, we have the Security Trust Fund through which successive administrations starting from that of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu have provided enormous support to the police command in Lagos State. Yet, crime of different dimensions has continued.
“This shows that no matter what Egbetokun has proffered as solution, such won’t solve our problem. The position of the IGP is unacceptable.
“We strongly believe that if we have state police, we would be able to solve the issues of crime in our nation or reduce it to the minimum.
“As we have seen in other climes, the United Kingdom has different levels of policing just like the United States of America. So why should ours be different?
“The lives of our people are very important and we must do everything possible to make sure we protect lives and property. We want to state categorically that we believe in state police and we want to urge the National Assembly to continue with its intendment to establish state police through the process of constitutional amendment,” Obasa said.
Lawmakers commended the Speaker’s stance, arguing that the current police structure is inadequate for securing the country.
They pointed out that many states already have local security outfits, making state police a necessary and practical solution.
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