Agitators of state police in the country had their way Thursday, at the ongoing National Conference.
Besides the state police, the conference mandated states to equally make laws for establishment of community police.
This was just as it approved the setting up of the Security and Intelligence Services Oversight Committee,SISOC, to map out security architecture for the country.
The committee is to be composed of a retired Chief Justice of Nigeria as chairman, a former head of the Civil Service, and a former Director General of the State Security Service or National Intelligence, as members.
Similarly, the conference also accepted the proposal for the establishment of Waterway Safety Corps to man the waterways in riverine areas.
The corps is expected to perform similar functions as that of the Federal Roads Safety Corps ,FRSC.
These decisions were taken by the conference during the consideration of its Committee on National security.
It approved the committee’s recommendation that state governors should be involved in the running of the Federal Police in their respective states just as delegates agreed that officers of the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police in the Federal Police should be deployed to their states of origin.
The resolution is expected to put to rest the long debate and controversies over the establishment of state police.
The state police when established by states that desired them are to complement the efforts of the Nigeria Police Force.
The areas of jurisdiction of the Federal police will cover the entire country and on clearly spelt out matters and offences while the jurisdiction of the State Police will cover the state and operate within the laws enacted by the State Assembly.
It was reasoned that this will address the concern of language and culture, as this group of officers actually constitute the operational component of the force.
