The Deputy Minority Leader, House of Representatives and Member Representing Awgu/Aninri/ Oji River Federal Constituency of Enugu State, Hon Toby Okechukwu, in a recent radio  interview  programme on (Solid FM)  programme in Enugu has stated the need for creation of a state police to help ease the burden the federal government  is already  carrying  in terms of security 

Hon Toby Okechukwu who is also a member representing Anniri/Awgu/Oji-River federal  constituency stated that security is a very  paramount  issue  in every country  that wants development  stressing that without security, without peace, there  can never be community or society in progress. 

According  to him, in  the recent  time,  our security challenges have escalated unlike in the past, you will ascribe insecurity to a sectional part of the country but now it’s all over, and that goes to tell you that the security architecture in terms of the legal framework is not working.

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Okechukwu restated  the need for a state police, say it will  proffer a  lasting solution and reform the architecture for better  security of our people. 

Adding that apart from the fact that it makes it possible for people who are domiciled in an environment to know who and who or the potential bad spots, it is possible to hold people responsible each and every time. It is clear.

Stressing that “Sometimes, you post a Yoruba man to Maiduguri, Igbo man to Zamfara. He will spend about two years trying to study the culture of the people. That does not mean you collapse the entire federal police. 

“There are certain federal institutions that will still intervene when the situation escalates but routine policing to detect and prevent crime should be domiciled with the state. That is what happens in federal structures.

“You can see how overcentralization has impacted not just on security, on education and our infrastructure; our security primarily because that one is the one that impacts most. So, the earlier we began to think in that direction, the better for us.

“A few months back, I moved a motion in parliament that we should ask officially for the 2014 Confab report and the APC committee led by Gov El’Rufai. Inherent in those documents are provisions for the state police. So, the ruling government by its own committee, which I believe has been approved by the organs of the party has adopted that. So, what is the problem? The Confab report has been adopted. So, what is the problem? So, where is this hesitancy. It’s just because oh, somebody believes that I don’t want to do it because I don’t want to do it. And we are hurting.

“You can’t travel with your family and sometimes, if it’s avoidable, you can’t travel by road, and for the past few years now, we have just become undertakers, continuing to bury our dead. It’s not going to help.

“We just have to face up to it and as opposition, we are minded in that direction and that was why I raised that motion, though the Constitution Review Chairman, that’s the Deputy Speaker, said that they are going to do something on that; that the Federal Government that is in the custody of the Confab report should bring it. So, I believe that we are all agreed except for any certain ambush to have a state police that can work. And when there are some imperfect operations in some states, you can isolate it and work out ways to improve on it.

“But not where you find out that the Federal Government is over stretched because they don’t have enough; they don’t have sufficient knowledge in their operations in certain jurisdictions. Then, they have to share man power. So, that is the answer to our security problems. 

“Long term answer is adopting state police framework and in addition like Winston Churchill said, that if every man during the Second World war can protect his family, that they would have won the war. So, I believe that we all need to be alert. If you see something, say something.