Zakari Isah - Kaduna
Kaduna, February 20, 2024 - Mr. Martins Igwe, the Regional Vice President of the West African Action Network on Small Arms (WAANSA), has fervently appealed to Nigerians to resist calls for the establishment of state police in the country.
Addressing newsmen at the Secretariat of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) in Kaduna, Mr. Igwe asserted that the nation is not yet ready for state police and emphasized the importance of reinforcing community policing while collaborating with vigilantes.
"The issue of state police is becoming a great concern, so I appeal to Nigerians to reject state police. What we need is to strengthen community policing and form a concrete alliance with vigilantes, providing them with proper training, especially in digital skills, as technology has taken over most of the security activities," Mr. Igwe stated.
Highlighting the efficiency of vigilantes in security tasks, he urged for support and training to enhance their capabilities. He commended their role in intelligence gathering, citing successful examples in Katsina, Sokoto, and Zamfara.
In response to calls for disbanding the National Security and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps to pave the way for state police, made by former Senator Ita Enang, Mr. Igwe described it as unfortunate. He stressed the need to retain these security entities while expressing skepticism about claims that 200 million small arms are in circulation in the country.
"The statistics given are inciting and can drive away investors from the country. I doubt that data, and I call on the National Security Adverse to liaise with the National Bureau of Statistics for accurate figures on small and illegal arms. This is crucial for both local and international researchers to prevent enemies of the country from capitalizing on nonexistent data to destabilize the nation," he cautioned.
Mr. Martins Igwe concluded by advocating for the establishment of a National Steering Committee Against Community Conflict. This, he believes, will facilitate the early warning signals' resolution at the community level, proving cost-effective and contributing to the reduction of killings across Nigeria.
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