Rising Killings: Southern Governors Must Compel Buhari To Accept State Police – Afenifere

In a statement on Monday signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Jare Ajayi, the organisation lamented that the security infractions going on in Southern Nigeria in recent times had become too many and could lead to an upsurge in internally displaced persons if not checked.

It said the southern governors must compel the Muhammadu Buhari government to see the need for state police.
This is coming days after the Zamfara State Governor, Bello Matawalle, also reiterated his calls for the permission for residents to bear firearms and defend themselves against bandits.
The governor’s position had been greeted with acceptance by various socio-cultural groups in the country while the Nigerian armed forces had frowned at it.
Speaking on Monday, Afenifere said, “There is no other way, reports of armed attacks on communities, religious places, farmlands and sometimes homes occur almost every week if not daily in different parts of the country. Such used to be restricted to the North, the North East especially. But today, it has spread even to the South which used to be safe.
“The federal and state governments, as well as security agencies, must put a halt to the hike in insecurity breaches to prevent the establishment of camps for the Internally Displaced People in the South as has been happening in parts of the North.”
The organisation charged governors of states in the South to unite as a bloc and take the issue of state policing to the Presidency if the 36 state governors could not agree on the subject.
“From all indications, state governors have a lot of clout because the constitution invests them with a lot of powers. They should, as chief security officers of their respective states, impress it on the powers that be in Abuja that the country is now in such a serious crossroads security-wise that they must be allowed to take the bull by the horn. They can do this by having state police. If the governors in all the 36 states of the country could not agree on this matter, governors in the South should go to Abuja to get this done as there is no other way,” Afenifere stated.