THE vice presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Rabiu Kwankwaso, has restated his opposition to the establishment of State Police, saying the quest was due to the failure of the federal Nigeria Police Force (NPF) and other security agencies in tackling the security challenges in the country.
The former Kano State governor acknowledged that the security situation has become so bad that everybody was looking for a solution, noting that even the Federal Government appears to be shifting responsibility to state governments.
He stated: “I have always been against State Police, and I can tell you the issue of State Police came because of the failure of the federal or national Police.
“As a former governor and also minister of Defence, and somebody who has advised the President on Darfur and Somalia, I think it’s one of the big mistakes that government is doing.”
Kwankwaso said the situation could be understood because governments often avoid responsibility when things go wrong, adding: “But one can understand if there is any failure, nobody wants to take responsibility.
“It’s only when there is success, everybody, even somebody who is one thousand kilometers away from it, will be claiming.”
Kwankwaso also expressed concern over the growing calls for citizens to acquire arms to protect themselves, saying: “We can see how things have reversed themselves to the extent that leaders in this country are telling their citizens to go and purchase arms. They go and own arms to protect themselves. It has gone that bad.”
He warned that unmitigated acquisition of weapons could make peace difficult, noting: “And as long as people have too many arms in their hands, I can tell you there will hardly be any peace.
“This because even little disputes between neighbours or even husband and wife, I can tell you one may decide to go and take the arms and use it.”
