The recent encounter between Governor Sanwo Olu with the Police personnel stationed at Magodo recently has further increased the need to inaugurate state police, the Middle Belt Forum (MBF) has emphasized.

The National President of MBF, Dr Bitrus Pogu made this known on Wednesday while reacting to a clip of the President’s recent television interview dismissing the option of creating State Police in the country.

Recall that on January 4, despite Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s directive to armed policemen to vacate the Magodo Phase 2 Estate area of the state, an anonymous Chief Superintendent of Police, CSP, who led the police team, defied the order.

Sanwo-Olu had instructed the CSP: “Can you call your superiors in Abuja and tell them that the governor is here, and as the Chief Security Officer, you don’t have any business being in my state right now and that I want you to disengage right now?”

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However, the CSP replied: “I am here on the instruction of the Inspector General of Police through the AGF. I am too small or too low to call them. Your Excellency sir, you can call them sir.”

Dr Pogu stated that the creation and inauguration of state police may only be delayed, but not denied as the actualization of the legitimate agitation of the people would eventually come to fruition.

According to him “It is unfortunate that President Muhammadu Buhari would say that State Police is not an option. He can only delay legitimate agitations of the people but cannot stop it.

“We must practice true federalism which is what Nigeria is. You cannot rule Nigeria as a totalitarian state. And the federal government cannot continue to impose on the federating units its authority using federal police and federal institutions.

“If we must continue as a federation we then have to operate as a federation. So all he (President Buhari) can do is to delay the process. There is no way such processes will not come to fruition because one of the aspects of true federalism is partial autonomy on some issues like policing and others by the federating units.

“Given what happened in Lagos, that even calls for Nigerians to rise up and say that the presidency, the federal police cannot do that. It is not acceptable, it is not tenable.

“The Governor is the Chief Security Officer of the State and should have authority in his state. No federal institution should impose anything on the Governor.

“It is glaring that we are not running true federalism and this rascality should stop because it is unacceptable. So as far as we are concerned, we will always insist on state police and we believe it is going to happen whether Buhari accepts it now or not, it will come. And true federalism, restructuring must happen in Nigeria for us to move forward. Our country cannot just be ran like a militarized state in a democracy.”

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