Nyesom Wike, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), has stated that Nigeria lacks the institutional capacity to implement state policing.
The issue of state police has been widely debated for years, with many governors pushing for its creation to improve security in their regions.
Last year, Uba Sani, the Governor of Kaduna, announced that all 36 state governments had submitted reports supporting the creation of state police, believing it could significantly improve security nationwide.
During a media interview on Sunday, Wike expressed concerns that introducing state or community policing could lead to autocratic rule in various states.
“In Nigeria, what system do we run? Is Abuja different from Nigeria when you talk about the police? People have been recommending community policing and state police,” he said.
“Knowing where we are, and where we are from, if you allow that, so many people would not come out of their houses. So, I said let’s try it first and see how it works.
“But so many people said there’s no need to try, that we have seen that if they allow state policing today, nobody would oppose any state governor. It is either you would die for murder or for armed robbery. Our institutions are not such that are independent.”
Wike acknowledged that his previous support for state police may no longer be valid, stating that if his stance was wrong, he would admit it.
“The mere fact that I supported state police [when I was governor], if I was wrong, I was wrong. If I was right, I was right,” he said.
“What we are saying is that our institutions are not strong to be independent of manipulation by the system.”
During his tenure as the governor of Rivers, Wike signed a bill establishing the neighbourhood safety corps, which included powers such as detecting crime, arresting offenders with or without a warrant, and bearing arms while performing their duties.
