A bill seeking to establish state police and devolve policing powers to subnational governments on Thursday scaled second reading in the Senate, marking a significant step in the National Assembly’s ongoing efforts to address Nigeria’s worsening security challenges.
The proposed legislation, which enjoys broad support across party lines in the Red Chamber, was subsequently referred by the President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio, to the Senate Ad-hoc Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution for further legislative scrutiny.
Leading the debate, Senate Leader, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, described the establishment of state police as a critical reform aimed at strengthening Nigeria’s internal security architecture amid growing concerns over the capacity of the Nigeria Police Force to effectively tackle emerging threats.
He said, “The establishment of state police will improve intelligence gathering: Local police officers are better equipped to obtain actionable intelligence from communities because they understand local languages, customs
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