Why I’m Backing State Police – Yari

Dr Abdulazeez Yari, Zamfara State governor, says the introduction of state police across the country, will bring an end to the incessant killings recorded in the nation.

The governor said this on Tuesday during an interactive session with a delegation of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), who were in Zamfara for an on-the-spot assessment of development projects in the state in the ongoing nationwide Dividend of Democracy Tour.

The governor’s remarks is coming days after bandits attacked two villages in Anka local government area of the state, killing scores.

Zamfara has become a regular feature for similar killings.

The bandits had attacked Bawan Daji village in the same Anka local government area two weeks ago and killed over 30 people.

They returned the following day and killed mourners at a graveyard.

Speaking today, Yari said: “I think we are ripe for state police. We are having a problem of who to issue instruction and this is militating against the progress of securing the nation.

“The current situation does not warrant us exposing the military, as it is not their primary responsibility.

“I think if properly structured, trained and motivated, the Nigeria police can perform.

“The claim that the governors will use the state police for political purposes does not stand, what about the leadership of the judiciary that is currently under the state governors, have we used them to jail all our political enemies?

“That argument does not stand. I stand for state police and I think it will provide solution to the killings in the land.

“There was a time in my state, the NIA passed information to the police that the bandits had amassed on a hill in a part of the state. The police commissioner came and showed me the letter, I immediately requested for more surveillance on the area, to which a total of 180 mobile police men were sent to the area to forestall any attack.

“A few weeks later, the same commissioner of police came to me that he had an order from Abuja that the policemen should be withdrawn, I requested that they should rather be reduced and not withdrawn, Only for me to attend the graduation of some of our medical students in Ukraine, and the Minister of State for Finance called me to ask if I heard what happened in my state, that 44 people were killed in the same area.

“Three months after, the said police commissioner was transferred out of my state and promoted to the rank of AIG, you can imagine. If I had the powers to fire that commissioner, he would have even resigned before I returned because if I meet him in the office, he would end up in jail. But because he knows I cannot fire him, he was still around when I returned.

“This is part of the challenges we face as state governors. Make no mistake about it, we, the state governors are currently catering for a substantial part of the responsibilities of keeping these police officers. We pay all their allowances, provide vehicles and other facilities for them, you can see that apart from their salaries and arms, we are virtually funding the police.”

The governor, who decried the killings, said the police officers currently operating in Zamfara lacks sophisticated weapons to combat the bandits, which according to him, are familiar with the terrain.

He said no single helicopter is available to the security operatives for quick response.

Speaking earlier, the President of the NUJ, Abdulwaheed Odunsile, who led the delegation, hailed governor Yari for huge investment on infrastructural development in the state.

The delegation had earlier visited the 14 Local governments in the state, for an assessment of the massive road construction carried out by the state government and the procurement of educational facilities and state of the art health equipments in the state.