Insecurity: State police now a necessity to check killings – ex-DSS boss

A former director of the Department of State Services (DSS), Mike Ejiofor, has said that Nigeria must urgently ovehaul its security apparatus and approve state police as a solution to the spate of security challenges.

Ejiofor’s comment comes admist continued outcry among Nigerians on the spate of killings in the country, while consistent calls for President Muhammadu Buhari to sack the head of security agencies have been ignored.

Just recently, the National Assembly passed a vote of no confidence on the heads of security agencies for failing to address the spate of attacks and killings in the country.

Speaking in an interview on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily, Ejiofo said the replacement of the nation’s service chiefs by President Buhari may not address the security concerns facing the country because the problems are multifaceted.

The security expert, however, advocated a complete restructuring not just of the country, but also the nation’s security architecture if the battle against insecurity is to be won, while disagreeing with insinuations that state police may be abused by state governors and politicians.

According to him, “We can see that when the Southwest set up Amotekun this people migrated to Delta, Edo region. For me every state must take responsibility, the argument that state police would be abuse does not hold water because the federal police is presently being abused by the executive. There must be check and balances to check what the state police are doing.”

Speaking further, he said that the heads of security and intelligence agencies have done enough in tackling the issues, but added that their best was not enough.

“Even if you change the service chiefs now, under the present operating circumstance and environment, there is not going to be any change.

“Our military and security services are ill-equipped; they are understaffed just like any other sector of our polity. With this pandemic coming in, it becomes a problem. But we have to move forward,” he added.