The officials of the Supreme Council for Shariah in Nigeria (SCSN) have warned against a rushed constitutional amendment to create state police, urging the Federal Government and the National Assembly to ensure wider consultations before taking a final decision on the proposed reform.
The Council, in a statement issued on Sunday and signed by its Secretary General, Nafiu Ahmad, said it had been closely monitoring the ongoing national debate and legislative process on state police, describing the issue as one with far-reaching implications for justice, national unity and the country’s future.
It also stated that Nigeria was facing one of the gravest security crises in its history, with thousands of innocent lives lost, millions displaced and widespread destruction of agriculture, businesses and livelihoods, leaving many communities living in fear.
According to the Council, while every sincere effort aimed at improving national security should be welcomed, state police should not be presented as a quick or magical solution to the country’s security challenges.
The SCSN argued that the failures of the existing security architecture were rooted largely in inadequate funding, corruption, insufficient personnel, poor welfare, weak intelligence gathering, obsolete equipment and ineffective coordination among security agencies.
It further maintained that these structural deficiencies would not disappear simply by transferring policing powers to state governments, insisting that the country’s immediate priority should be the comprehensive reform and strengthening of existing security institutions.