Former Inspector-General of Police Mike Okiro has said the growing clamour for state police is a reflection of the perceived failure of Nigeria’s federal policing system to tackle the country’s worsening security challenges.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Monday, Okiro argued that the current policing stucture in the country is disorganised and ill-equipped.
“The Nigerian police is badly disorganised, disenchanted, demoralised, understaffed, ill-equipped and ill-trained,” Okiro said.
“If the police had been well-equipped, nobody would be talking about state police. People are talking about state police because the federal police have failed. If they had succeeded, nobody would talk about it.”
The former police chief identified inadequate funding as the force’s biggest challenge, saying the problem had resulted in manpower shortages, poor infrastructure and the closure of many police stations across the country.
