By Golok Nanmwa, Jos
Member representing Jos South/Jos East Federal Constituency in the Federal House of Representatives Hon. Dachung Bagos on Tuesday said that Nigeria needs state police to fight the current attacks and insecurity that has engulfed the Nation.
Bagos who is the deputy Chairman, House Committee on Anti-corruption, further noted that although some politicians opposed to a state police force because of the selfish desire of the state governors who would prioritise using them to witch hunt their political opponents, the advantages of the scheme to an ordinary Nigerian are far greater than the excuses.
The rep member made this known during a chat with journalists at his residence in Jos.
He appreciated his constituents for giving him the opportunity to re-contest the 2023 election under the platform of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
Bagos described the killings in some parts of the country as unnecessary and called on the federal and state government to take proactive measures to halt the gory act.
He explained that before his election into the House of Representatives in 2019, he has been an advocate of state police which he believes lies the solution to the prevailing security challenges.
“State police has been one of the issues that are so dear to my heart, I believe it will address the issue of insecurity in Nigeria and we will not shy away from it.
“But some politicians are afraid that once there is state police, the governors who will be in charge will use the institution against their opponents but the primary reason is to address insecurity and if that will be achieved, then we need to channel our energy towards that direction.
“The state police will recruit its personnel from various communities; all the officers will be known faces who also know everybody within the community but when you have people who are not familiar with the terrain where they are working, you will not get the desired result”, he said.
He explained that those who would be recruited to man the system have the capacity to identify individuals in the community who have criminal tendencies and fish them out to face the wrath of the law.
“Today people are beginning to believe in the vigilante more than the security because they are known people who are in charge of their own communities, any small alarm they know where it is coming from. Therefore, the state police will be able to gather intelligence through the traditional rulers, community leaders and even the religious leaders to effectively protect the communities from invasion”, he added.
He said state police has been the practice in some developed nations of the world and that Nigeria must borrow from advanced countries to improve the standard of living in the country.
The lawmaker further said that efforts are on the way to attract federal government presence to Jos East and some villages in Jos South to open up road networks to enable security personnel to respond swiftly to security issues.
He called on the people of the state to support the PDP at all times.
Bagos pledged to continue to provide dividends of democracy to the people of his Constituency.
