Yenagoa—Chairman of the Bayelsa State Council of Traditional Rulers and the Amanyanabo of Twon-Brass Kingdom, King Alfred Diete-Spiff has supported the idea of State Police, describing those against the calls as ignorant and confused persons.
King Alfred Diete-Spiff made his position on the much-debated national issue known on Wednesday at the State Secretariat of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) in Yenagoa during the launch of a book titled “Gbogbosi-Gbogbosi (Never Again), A collection of memoirs of the Nigerian civil war (1967-1970) and diary of Major Michael Oputa (rtd) written by I.B Osborne Robison.
The King who was also the first Military Governor of the Old Rivers State said the establishment of state police will improve security, increase employment and give more people a sense of belonging, peace, stability and security of the country.
According to him, those against the calls for state police are not in tune with the current situation in the country,
He said, “Those against state police are wrong. If you make laws, you must have people to enforce them. It’s like breaking eggs to make an omelet.
“Why should people refuse state police based on the claim that state governors will hijack it for personal gains?
“If the country wants to go parliamentary, we should stay parliamentary. If we want to stay presidential system, we should stay presidential. We should even have police at the Local Government levels. If they are entitled it is right. Frankly, the country should develop slowly. –But if we go too fast what we predicted could happen.
“In the past, the local government councils have their police. They have the customary police and they did a good job. But today, we deploy the military even to roadblocks to the extent that they have lost their respect in society.
“Let us have state police, we have come a long way. And when you imagine a situation where policemen from each state are on ground, who will go and hide in the bushes. It will even create more jobs. It will make people have sense of belonging in the country called Nigeria.”
King Diete-Spiff also cautioned authors writing on the country’s civil war to always be careful not to open old wounds with their books as old wounds are hard to heal.
