A bill to establish state police in Nigeria passed for a second reading on Tuesday at the House of Representatives in Abuja.
The bill was sponsored by the Deputy Speaker of the House, Benjamin Kalu, and 14 others. It aims to amend the appropriate sections of the 1999 Constitution to allow states to form their own police forces.
Kalu who stood in for the Speaker, Abbas Tajudeen, urged members to look beyond political ambitions and think about the safety of Nigerians and Nigeria. Several parliamentarians took turns to contribute to the debate on the floor of the House during Tuesday’s plenary.
Also speaking, Babajimi Benson (APC, Lagos) said, “It is the job of the police to maintain law and order. We have a population of over 200million people but we have a police strength that is less than 400,000. State Police should be created to address the internal security challenges of Nigeria.”