A former Inspector General of Police, Alhaji Mohammed Gambo Jimeta, has raised the alarm over plans to plunge the country into a crisis, by the persistent agitation for creation of state police.

Speaking with journalists in Abuja, on Monday, he said there was an underground plot by a set of people to have a regime change.

According to him, “we are doomed if anybody can be lobbying to truncate the truth. Let us unite to fight the mafia of this country, because if this is not done, we might be heading for the dark days of the military again.”

Jimeta, also a former National Security Adviser (NSA) and Minister of Agriculture, regretted that duplication of security agencies had not done anything good but had, instead, complicated all security issues in the country.

He said the call for state police was dishonest, adding that state governors, who were also agitating for it, would not be able to fund the system if created.

“They should concentrate on providing basic amenities for their people, rather than dissipating their energies on state police, because the colonial masters that created one single police for the country equally studied the dynamics of a state police and discovered that it cannot work for a country like Nigeria, with over 500 different languages,” he said.

The former police boss described the allegation that governors could not control state commissioners of police as untrue, saying that they were members of the police council.

On the clamour by former military president, General Ibrahim Babangida, for the state police, the former IGP said IBB was his boss, so he would not want to join issues with him.

“With due respect, there is a wide difference of opinions on the operations of the police with my former boss, because while I was serving under him, we had a lot of disagreements as regards the issue of maintenance of law and order in the country,” he said.

Comments (3)

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MR
written by osukporu, August 21, 2012

State police is one of the best things that can happen for Nigeria to have peace. This present police does not belong to the Nigerian people because it was not created for Nigerians in the first place. At first, a colonial master's police and when they left, it became a property of the federal government. The unfounded fear by Gambo that the interest of minority ethnics will not be met by state police is shallow, uninsightful, and backward. My question to Mr Gambo is this, whose interest has this present police formation meet? It will be easier for us to relate with our local police in terms of given info than a police you have no idea of his language or origin and who is not interested in anything about you because he or she has no business with you.

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Elder (Dr.)
written by Chukwuma Nwaonicha, August 21, 2012

State Police is uncalled for. The Governors will use them as errand boys and to victimize their opponents especially, during election period. States should adopt the use of vigilante or community policing instead of State police.
Thank you,
Elder (Dr.) Chukwuma Nwaonicha.

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what does jimenta know
written by goerge, August 21, 2012

AFTER THE COLONIAL TIME...HAS NIGERIA POLICE PERFORMED...THE ANSWER ITS BIG NO.....TODAY NIGERIA POLICE FORCE CANT OR WILL EVER POSSITIVELY PERFORM FOR QUITE NUMBER OF REASON.NIGERIA POLICE FORCE LACK TODAYS MODERN SECURITY TRAINING....MOST OF THE POLICE MEN AND WOMEN WHO ARE RECRUTED FROM THE NORHTERN PART OF NIGERIA ARE NOT QUALIFY TO BE A SECURITY NOT TO TALK OF BEEN A POLICE OFFICER AND MAJORITY OF THEM ARE POSTED TO THE SOUTHERN PART OF THE COUNTRY WHICH DOES NOT HELP..MORESO ETHNIC SENTIMENT WITHIN THE POLICE FORCE ITS A MOJOR PROBLEM....NIGERIA POLICE FORCE HAS NEVER HAD A SOUND IG WHO KNOW HOW TO SHAPE THE FORCE FOR BETTER.....STATE POLICE WILL CREATE A COMPETITION FOR THE BEST AND EFFECTIVE POLICING......LASTLY ITS TIME NIGERIA POLICE FORCE STOP GOING TO INDIA OR PAKISTAN FOR TRAINING OF THE OFFICER BECAUSE THERE IS NOTHING TO LEARN IN THOSE COUNTRY WHICH.ITS TIME THEY TURN TO EUROPE EXPRT TO HELP THEM LAY FOUNDATION FOR NEW GENERATION OF HOW TO POLICE COUNTRY

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