By Chukwudi Nweje, Lagos

Pan Yoruba socio-political organisation Afenifere has charged the Federal Government to give its nod to the establishment of state police forces to stem rising insecurity in the country, especially in Southern Nigeria.

In a statement on Monday signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Jare Ajayi, the organisation lamented that the security infractions going on in Southern Nigeria in recent times have become too many and could lead to an upsurge in internally displaced people if not checked.

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“There is no other way, reports of armed attacks on communities, religious places, farmlands and sometimes homes occur almost every week if not daily in different parts of the country. Such used to be restricted to the North, the North East especially. But today, it has spread even to the South which used to be safe. The federal and state governments, as well as security agencies, must put a halt to the hike in insecurity breaches to prevent the establishment of camps for the Internally Displaced People in the South as has been happening in parts of the North,” the statement read.

The organisation charged governors of states in the South to unite as a bloc and take the issue of state policing to the Presidency if the 36 state governors cannot agree on the subject.

“From all indications, state governors have a lot of clout because the constitution invests them with a lot of powers. They should, as chief security officers of their respective states, impress it on the powers that be in Abuja that the country is now in such a serious crossroads security-wise that they must be allowed to take the bull by the horn. They can do this by having state police. If the governors in all the 36 states of the country could not agree on this matter, governors in the South should go to Abuja to get this done as there is no other way,” Afenifere stated.