UPDATED: Buhari restates opposition to state police

President Muhammadu Buhari has restated his opposition to state governments having their own police.

Mr Buhari said this in an interview with Channels Television aired on Wednesday.

‘State police is not an option,’ Mr Buhari said in response to the question on the topic.

His rejection comes amidst calls by some Nigerians for state governments to establish their own police outfit.

The calls for state police were necessitated by the lingering security challenges across the country which the president said he has tackled.

Governors have now resorted to self-help by establishing regional security outfits such as Amotekun in the South-west and Ebubeagu in the South-east.

Proponents of federalism have argued that in a true federal structure, states should control their own security agencies to complement that of the federal government.

Not an option

Responding to a security-related question, the president lamented the abuse and suppression of the local governments by state governors.

“State police is not an option. Find out the relationship between local government and the governors. Are the third tier of government getting what they are supposed to get constitutionally? Are they getting it? Let the people in local government tell you the truth, the fight between local governments and the governors,” Mr Buhari said.

The president advocated a bigger role for traditional rulers in bringing peace to communities as, according to him, the royal fathers know the people in their domains.

Mr Buhari dwelt on reports of farmers/herders clashes in the country and wondered why there should be such occurrences among people who used to coexist peacefully.

“For example, there were two governors that came to see me about problems – Oyo State and one other state – because the herders were in their forests but the animals were going into the neighbouring farms, and eating the crops; I said, as far as I know, the farmers and herders have been co-existing in Nigeria for generations.

“Let them go and ask the local leadership what has gone wrong. Why the break in communication between the local leadership and the herders?” he said.