President Bola Tinubu has declared that operatives of the proposed state police will be adequately armed as part of efforts to tackle Nigeria’s decade-long security challenges.
The President made this known on Friday while speaking at the All Progressives Congress (APC) National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting held at the State House Conference Centre, Abuja.
Tinubu also disclosed plans to establish forest rangers, noting that they would equally be armed to combat terrorism and banditry across the country.
“We are going for state police. We will do forest rangers. We will arm them. We will defeat those terrorists and bandits, we must do that,” the President said.
Amid the recent surge in killings and criminal activities in several parts of the country, Tinubu reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to establishing local policing structures at the state level to enhance security.
While some stakeholders have expressed concerns over the possible abuse of state police by governors, the National Assembly has nonetheless thrown its weight behind the move to create the local security outfit.