A media policy think-tank, Independent Media and Policy Initiative (IMPI), has urged the National Assembly to invoke the doctrine of necessity to speed up the process of establishing state police in the country.

The Chairman of IMPI, Omoniyi Akinsiju, stated this in a statement in Abuja on Wednesday.

Mr Akinsiju attributed the call by the group to what he described as the delay in putting a decentralised policing structure in place for the creation of state police, saying this called for concern.

“We acknowledge the efforts that are being made to establish the state police as part of the nation’s security apparatus.

“In this regard, we urge that the police force should be the foundation of the country’s internal security architecture. Our argument is hinged on the fact that police officers must be recruited from and deployed to the local environment they are familiar with.

“The would-be police officers will be better placed because of their knowledge of the culture and familiarity with their environment. We, therefore, call on the National Assembly to invoke the doctrine of necessity to ensure the passage of the law creating state police without delay,” he said.

The IMPI chairman also urged state governments to ensure that various communities and stakeholders were involved in security matters in their respective domains.

“Additionally, governments at all levels should facilitate community involvement in security matters through community mobilisation,” he said.

Mr Akinsiju said that such involvement would ensure the mobilisation, engagement and empowerment of members of a community to take ownership of and actively participate in addressing issues and challenges facing the community.

“It involves bringing together various stakeholders within a community, such as community leaders, local organisations and government agencies, to work toward a common goal.

“It is aimed at fostering solutions that support good governance, accountability, representative participation and peaceful change.

“Participation in community mobilisation is about addressing the interests of the entire community, with security at the top,” he added.

(NAN)