PUNCH
Kaduna State Governor, Uba Sani, has stressed the need for state policing amid the rising spate of insecurity in the Northern part of the country.
He insisted that insecurity can only be addressed with the establishment of state police.
While he commended some Northern state governors for also backing the establishment of the state police, Sani noted that vigilante services are temporary measures that are best suited for intelligence gathering and sharing.
Sani stated this when he was featured as a guest on Channels Television’s programme, Sunday Politics.
The governor’s comments came a few hours after bandits in the early hours of Sunday invaded Gindin Duste Makyali of the Kufana District, Kajuru Local Government Area of Kaduna State, killing at least 12 people during the attack.
The incident, according to sources, occurred around 5am while no fewer than 17 houses were razed.
Sani said, ”In the last six months or thereabout, I have been insisting that we can only address the issue of insecurity if we establish state police.
”I am happy that some few weeks ago, some governors joined me in agitating for state police and it was a lone voice.
”Some governors have also done a lot in the last few months by establishing or empowering the vigilance services.”
Sani noted that normalcy had returned to the affected community and efforts were underway to rescue those abducted by the bandits, adding that the measures employed by his comrades “cannot and can never address the state of insecurity until we agree to collectively agree to establish state police immediately.
”If you have vigilante service or vigilante groups or you have community policing, where is the law that allows them to carry AK-47?
Insecurity in the form of kidnapping, banditry and armed robbery have continued to displace thousands of people, leading to the loss of lives and property in parts of the country.
On Saturday, bandits invaded Kwassam and Sabon Layi Kan Makama communities in Kauru LG of Kaduna State, killing six residents while scores, including a retired director of the Central Bank of Nigeria, were kidnapped.
The Southern Kaduna Peoples Union confirmed the incident on Saturday, saying no fewer than 50 residents were abducted by the hoodlums.
