National Security: NEC Approves Decentralisation Of Police

The National Economic Council (NEC) has approved plans for the decentralisation of the Nigerian Police Force.

The council backed the plan on Thursday during its meeting, which was chaired by Acting President Yemi Osinbajo inside the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

National Security Adviser Babagana Monguno told journalists after the meeting that it was important to the police because of the security threats in the country.

“These threats are increasingly asymmetric in nature and I stressed upon the need the deal with these problems in a more collective manner,” Monguno said.

“It is true that it is the responsibility of the security agencies to deal with these threats, but the complexities of insecurity in the 21st Century are such that you need a whole of government and society to approach in dealing with these issues.”

To achieve the objective, the NEC set up a committee to be chaired by the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris.

The committee is to come up with recommendations on how the planned decentralisation can be achieved.

According to Monguno, the decentralisation will also enable states to play a more significant role in ensuring security.

He said, “I emphasised to the council the need for the state to collaborate with and support the Federal Government in dealing with each individual threats.

“These threats differ from one zone to another and find a way of linking with security agencies so that we can find a lasting solution.

“These things cannot be overcome within a short period that is the hard truth.  What we have decided to do is to work on certain methods.”

In arriving at its decision, the NEC also reviewed the resolutions and recommendations of the 2017 Security Summit.