Don’t turn state police into political weapon- Senator Natasha

…seeks safeguards, sustainable funding

John Alechenu

ABUJA – Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan has cautioned against deploying state police to intimidate political opponents or citizens, and urged the National Assembly to build strong constitutional safeguards into any law establishing such a force.The Kogi Central Senator said this at a Conference with the theme: “Building a National Consensus for State Police and National Security,” organised by Arise News and ThisDay Newspaper in Abuja on Thursday.

She noted that the push for decentralised policing was gaining ground, but the design must rule out abuse at the state level.

The federal lawmaker further stated that, “State police should never become an instrument of political oppression or executive intimidation.