Femi Falana, a lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), has categorically stated that the move by the federal government to establish state police will not address insecurity in the country, News.ng reports.
Falana, who stated this in an interview on Channels Television on Thursday evening, noted that the push for the establishment of state police by the federal and state governments is geared towards the 2027 general elections.
“I don’t think we should criminalize politicians. And I don’t want to engage in any conspiracy theory. The debate has been on since we started the campaign for restructuring in the country. So it’s not a new phenomenon.
“But what has to be understood? Whether you set up state police today or next year, there are issues that have not been addressed. And that is why some people believe that this is part of the 2027 agenda. But we have the problems of insecurity in our country.”
Expressing his views on the proposed security architecture in the sub-national governments, he stated that what the government should be focusing on at the moment is reducing hunger, creating job opportunities, and assisting vulnerable Nigerians.
He emphasized that if these issues are not addressed, the country will continue to face insecurity.
“And by the way, we always reduce the problem of insecurity to security architecture, infrastructure. How do we have more police stations? How do we employ more policemen and women? Without constricting social security, where are more young men taking to criminality? Why are we not talking of creating employment for young people? Why are we not giving assistance to Nigerians that are vulnerable, extremely poor, or dimensionally poor? And unless you address this problem holistically, creating a state police or local government police will not address the crisis of insecurity in the country,” he noted.
Watch the clip:
