The Zamfara State Government says it is prepared to fully support the creation of state police if the proposed constitutional amendment becomes law.
A statement issued by the Senior Special Assistant to the Secretary to the State Government, Suleiman Ahmad Tudu, said the state was ready to embrace the new policing system after the Senate approved the bill to establish both federal and state police.
The statement said Nigeria’s growing security challenges, including banditry, kidnapping, insurgency and other violent crimes, have shown that the current policing structure is under strain and requires reform.
It argued that Zamfara has already invested heavily in security by providing vehicles, logistics, fuel and other support to security agencies.
According to the statement, the state has also established a Security Trust Fund, procured more than 200 vehicles, including about 30 armoured personnel carriers, over 100 motorcycles and surveillance drones, while rebuilding police stations and officers’ quarters.
The government also highlighted the establishment of the Zamfara State Community Protection Guards, known as Askarawa, which has recruited more than 2,000 local personnel. It added that experienced hunters from Maiduguri have also been engaged to strengthen security operations.
The statement maintained that financing a state police force would not place an additional burden on Zamfara because the government is already spending heavily on security.
It said, “It is therefore not out of place to say that Zamfara State is already bearing the cost of security, even without constitutional control over the Police or other federal security agencies. Creating State Police will therefore not be an additional burden on the state, but merely a formalization of an existing responsibility.”
The government also argued that local policing would produce better results because officers understand the communities they serve.
Quoting Governor Lawal, the statement said, “Nobody will come and fix them for us. We will do it ourselves.”
Addressing concerns that state police could be abused for political purposes, the statement insisted that the governor had not used government institutions against political opponents during his time in office.
“I am also quite confident that adequate mechanisms will be put in place to ensure accountability of the state police so that the institution will be stronger than the selfish interest of any individual in the future,” the governor stated.