Insecurity: Don advocates conversion of ethnic militia to state police

By Jethro Ibileke

A University Don, Prof. Godwin Aondohemba Vaasen, has called for the conversion of ethnic militia movement to state police force in the fight against insecurity in the country, noting that it will compliment the efforts of the Nigerian Police Force.

The Professor of History and International Studies of Edo State University, Uzairue, made the call while delivering the 9th inaugural lecture of the University, titled: “Transforming Ethnic Militia movement to state police: Towards combating the security challenges in contemporary Nigeria”.

While noting that the police are an indispensable part of our society and have been doing their best to maintain peace and security in the country, Vaasen added that if properly managed, militia groups are crucial to the fight against insecurity in their respective areas.

“The positive attributes of these militia movement including, their occasioned control of crime and their services as pressure groups for their communities is crucial for the attainment of peace if properly tackled as their use as states police force will go a long way as an antidote to the security challenges in Nigeria,” he said.

Vaasen who is a former lecturer at the Nigerian Police Academy, noted that the establishment of the state police will increase the numerical strength of the police force who grossly inadequate in Nigeria as most of them are involved in other duties other than fighting crime which is their primary responsibility.

According to him, the militia groups who are very familiar with the terrain of their various environment, will effectively dislodge kidnappers and other criminals who may not be familiar with the environment.

“Since the police seemed to have become ineffective in the tackling of the security challenges, especially the fighting of crime, made people to lose confidence in their ability to effectively protect them against criminals,” he stated.

To avoid the possibility of some state governors resorting to the misuse of the state police to terrorize political opponents, he suggested legal backing before their establishment and members scrutinized to weed out the bad eggs before being used as state police force.

He noted that some ethnic militia movement were formed as a result of the rising tide of violent crimes in the country and the seeming inability of the police to control the situation.

He went further to note that in response to the widespread increase of crime in different parts of the country, both local community and state governments supported the formation of the vigilante groups to compliment or support the operation of the Nigerian police.

He however recommended that there should be an increased cooperation between members of the judiciary and the police to judiciously fight crime and take crime fighting to the grassroots level.

“The police in the performance of their duties go through a lot of risk, so government should encourage them by giving them a better welfare package to boost their morale such as better salary, retirement benefits, other allowances, barracks accommodations and a better working environment,” he said.

Earlier in his address, the Vice Chancellor of the University, Prof. Emmanuel Aluyor, congratulated the inaugural lecturer for his well thought-out topic, which he said was of utmost relevance to the current challenges the nation faces.

The VC reiterated the university’s commitment to support and promote research as the University will continue to provide necessary resources, infrastructure and encourage scholars to excel in their pursuit of knowledge.