On Monday, the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, tasked the federal government with merging the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) with the police for better security in the country, News About Nigeria reports.
Egbetokun argued that the merger is essential because both the NSCDC and FRSC are playing the same role as the police.
The Police IG, who was represented by the Assistant Inspector General (DIG) of Police, Ben Okoro, said this at the National Dialogue on State Policing, organised by the House of Representatives in Abuja with the theme “Pathways to Peace: Reimagining Policing in Nigeria.”
Egbetokun explained that, since the duo of the FRSC and NSCDC is a duplication of the police, merging them would produce better effectiveness and would also help in their fight against insecurity in the country.
He further noted that because of the different security agencies, which have the same responsibility as the police, the force is left to battle with inadequate training.
Egbetokun further lamented that the force is also suffering from a lack of adequate manpower, adding that most police barracks have become dilapidated due to a lack of maintenance and renovation.
According to him, this lack of infrastructure and other challenges faced by the force has “a negative impact on the performance of the policemen.”
Speaking on the call for state policing, the IG of police noted that Nigeria is not ripe and ready for such.
Egbetokun explained that this is because most state governors would ride on the avenue to suppress the opposition in their states.
He further noted that the state police would not be able to combat terrorism, kidnapping, and banditry, because they required enormous resources to do so.
He, therefore, noted that, instead of trying to create state police, the federal government should focus on rebuilding the Nigeria Police Force through personnel training, the building of modern facilities, and the provision of good welfare packages for officers.
