THE inspector General of the Nigeria Police Force, IGP Kayode Egbetokun has advised the Federal Government of Nigeria, under the leadership of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to merge the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) with the police for effectiveness.
According to media reports, Egbetokun said this at the National Dialogue on State Policing organised by the House of Representatives on Monday, April 22, 2024, in Abuja with the theme “Pathways to Peace: Reimagining Policing in Nigeria”.
The IG, represented by the Assistant Inspector General (DIG) of Police, Mr Ben Okoro, said that the NSCDC and the FRSC were a duplication of the police, adding that Nigeria was not ripe enough for State Police and urging those calling for State Police to work toward merging the NCDSC and the FRSC with the police for effectiveness.
He said the police were battling with inadequate training, as well as a lack of adequate manpower, and that most police barracks had been dilapidated due to lack of maintenance and renovation.
IG Egbetokun also mentioned that creating State Police would also lead to the problem of jurisdiction, which would bring about conflicts of interest, noting that the State Police would not be able to combat terrorism, kidnapping, and banditry because they required enormous resources to combat.
He also said that there was a need to improve the training of personnel to enable modern policing, adding that funding was necessary to also help maintain internal security.
