The Benue State Government has thrown its weight behind the establishment of state police as it began training 300 members of the Benue State Civil Protection Guards.
Governor Hyacinth Alia disclosed this on Tuesday while flagging off a six-day training programme at the firing range in Ikpayongo, located in Gwer-East Local Government Area.
The training is being conducted by the Kukah Centre in collaboration with the state government, with the aim of boosting the operational effectiveness of the security outfit.
Represented by his deputy, Sam Ode, the governor emphasized that the call for state policing is both necessary and timely, adding that state leaders should have direct oversight of security systems within their jurisdictions.
He said, “The conversation about state policing, as contentious as it is, is a matter whose time has come. And as we approach the constitutional changes that will make that possible, I think Benue is in full support of state policing.
“The President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is working seriously on a legal framework to establish state policing. This is devolution of powers.
“We are a federating nation and federating units should be able to have self-determination on issues of security.
So when we talk about the governors being Chief Security Officers of their states, it shouldn’t just be in theory, it should be in practice.
“And so we should be able to have a police structure that the state can control, for efficient policing and, of course, for the security of the state.”
The governor also responded to concerns about potential political misuse of state police, noting that appropriate safeguards would be put in place.
Earlier, the Special Adviser on Security and Internal Affairs, Joseph Har, stated that roughly 5,000 personnel have already been trained under the state’s security programme.
He said, “As far as Nigeria is concerned, Benue State is leading on the issue of state policing, and others are following, having trained 5,000 people with a good training manual that is available, and now the Kukah Centre has come to strengthen the function. You don’t build on nothing; you cannot strengthen what does not exist.
“As you are aware, the conventional security military, police, paramilitary cannot be everywhere, but these people are in every council ward, so we are going to be first responders in every place and raise flags for the conventional security.
They are there to respond to issues before the conventional security, and with their presence, they will support the conventional security.”
Also speaking, the Project Manager of the Kukah Centre, Terseer Bamber, said the programme is focused on enhancing professionalism and ensuring that the guards operate strictly within legal limits.
“We started with stakeholder engagements. We moved from there to signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Benue State Government, which gave us the impetus to access the law establishing the security outfit.
“And it led to developing the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP), and today we are here to train the personnel of the guards based on the SOP that was developed.
“At the end of the training, we will have a more resilient BSCPGs, who understand their mandate, who understand the confines of the constitution, and who will also be positioned to deliver their mandate within the confines of the law.
That way, we would have contributed to strengthening peace and resilience here in Benue State and Nigeria in general,” Bamber said.
