Plateau State Governor Caleb Mutfwang has declared that as a people we cannot continue to live in fear and refuse to face realities.
As a result of this, he said state police should be allowed to exist.
The governor stated this when he was guest of Trust TV’s Daybreak Show.
He said “globally, security is a local issue. And unless we can bring it down to the level of the communities, we may not achieve much success,” he said.
It would be recalled that 23 villages in Bokkos and Barkin Ladi local government areas in the state came under attacks, leaving over 150 dead and many others wounded.
Mutfwang said he believes in state police and balanced gun control. “I am a firm believer in state police. Sincerely, I have heard so many arguments about it: the tendency of governors to misuse their powers, and so on and so forth.
The governor, however, agreed that governors could misuse or abuse power cannot be ruled out, but however called for control in arm bearing.
He said how the United States controls arms possession by the citizens should encourage Nigeria to do the same, adding that if a state where there is noticeable evidence of abuse of state governor misuse the state police, and if there is evidence, the federal police, as is the case in the USA, should be called in to restore order.
“So, I think for effectiveness, we cannot run away from the issue of state police. We must look at it critically; all the talks about community policing by the Nigeria Police Force. I do not think it is effective, because the time span for dissemination of information and decision making is very critical. When you have a situation where there is an attack in the community and the police will (only) be able to mobilise to counter it at three, four hours away.
“It doesn’t make sense. So, we must be able to bring them closer to the theatre of conflict,” he said.
Governor Mutfwang denied that the State government has a militia in the form of Operation Rambo, in place, adding that his take on community defending themselves is informed by the government’s effort to nonscientist and mobilise the communities to be able to stand up against attackers in their own controlled way before the security agencies are able to mobilise to the areas.
The governor has also agreed with talks the security agencies in the country have been compromised, saying fifth columnists, including people who are agents of criminals unleashing mayhem on Plateau and other parts of the country, have infiltrated the security of the nation.
He alleged that these fifth columnists within the security agencies stop prompt response by the security agencies, adding that in many instances, several lives of security personnel have been lost after being ambushed due to information leaked by the fifth columnists.
He said, “…Let me also say this; fifth columnists have infiltrated the security agencies. This is a fact we must confront as a nation.
“There are many people who should not be there; they are agents of these criminals, and sometimes they even compromise their colleagues. And that is why you have a lot of ambushes sometimes when these security agencies are going on operations.”
The governor said President Bola Tinubu must give a very firm directive to the security agencies that in the ongoing recruitment processes, diligence must be taken.
“Diligence must be observed to ensure that wrong elements are not recruited into the armed forces and the security agencies. But there must also be a mechanism to be able to fish out these bad eggs within the security services.
“It is only when we do that, that there will be professionalism and discipline, and also some bit of empathy to the victims of these attacks,” he said. He said while the government continues to conscientise and mobilise the communities to be able to defend themselves, the overzealousness of some security officers on the ground makes the process difficult and renders the government’s efforts to be counter-productive.