…Says Nigerians Are Being Misled
Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State has criticised the Federal Government over the continued delay in establishing state police, accusing authorities of misleading Nigerians while insecurity continues to rise across the country.
Makinde made the statement on Friday during a joint mega rally organised by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
The governor said discussions surrounding state police had dragged on for too long without any concrete action from the Federal Government, insisting that Nigerians deserved a more decisive approach to tackling insecurity.
According to him, governors in the South-West had initially pushed strongly for the creation of state police before settling for the regional security outfit known as Amotekun.
“We wanted state police, but when it became obvious that it would not be approved, we created Amotekun as an alternative,” Makinde said.
He argued that the establishment of Amotekun demonstrated that states could collaborate and take security decisions independently without waiting endlessly for federal approval.
Amotekun Created as Alternative to State Police
Makinde recalled that South-West governors coordinated efforts through their various State Houses of Assembly to legalise Amotekun in 2020 after the state police proposal failed to gain federal backing.
The governor maintained that if there was genuine political will, state policing could be implemented within a short period to address Nigeria’s growing security challenges.
He further claimed that Lagos State did not participate in the Amotekun initiative because influential political interests in the state were against the security outfit at the time.
“The only South-West state that did not establish Amotekun was Lagos, and we know the reason behind it,” he stated.
Insecurity Requires Urgent Action
Makinde stressed that insecurity remains one of the biggest challenges facing Nigeria and called for urgent decentralised policing measures to improve security across states.
The governor insisted that relying solely on the federal policing system was no longer sufficient, adding that localised security structures would help tackle crimes more effectively at the grassroots level, The News Edition reports.
His comments come amid renewed national conversations on constitutional reforms and the growing demand for state police as part of efforts to strengthen internal security across Nigeria.