The House of Representatives, at plenary on Wednesday, June 9, 2021, passed for second reading a Bill seeking to alter the provisions of the 1999 constitution to give legal backing to states security outfit.
Some zones in the country have adopted regional security outfit to curtail the worsening security challenges, as the South-west has floated Amotekun, the South-east recently adopted its outfit called Ebube agu, to tackle the rising unrest.
Leading the debate on its general principles, the sponsor, Hon. Oberuakpefe Afe (PDP, Delta), said the security agencies are saddled with enormous responsibility of maintaining law and order, hence the proposed legislation if passed would complement the Nigeria Police Force to tackle insecurity in the country.
He said the country can no longer deny the fact that the state or local police are performing the function of the police.
According to him, ”Each state is now coming up with different security outfit and there is need for us to structure it so as to ensure proper coordination. If passed, the states security outfit would help in intelligence gathering. The duty of maintaining law and protection of lives and properties would be complemented as well.”
Afe added that the amendment would regulate the local police in order to have a structural operation.
When put to a voice vote by the Deputy Speaker, Hon. Idris Wase, the Bill got the support of majority of the lawmakers.
