Merge NSCDC, FRSC with Police – IG

The Federal Government should merge the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) with the Police for increased effectiveness, the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Kayode Egbetokun, has suggested.

Egbetokun made the suggestion at the National Dialogue on State Policing, organised by the House of Representatives on Monday in Abuja with the theme “Pathways to Peace: Reimagining Policing in Nigeria.”

Mr. Ben Okoro, an Assistant Inspector General of Police, represented the IG, who said the NSCDC and the FRSC were police duplications.

On state police, Egbetokun said the country was not ripe enough for state police and urged those calling for state police to work towards merging the NCDSC and the FRSC with the police for effectiveness.

Egbetokun also faulted calls for state police, saying Nigeria was not mature enough for state police.

According to him, state police will provide avenues for state governors to use the police against the opposition in their states.

He said that creating state police would also lead to a problem of jurisdiction, resulting in conflicts of interest.

He believed that the state police would not be able to combat terrorism, kidnapping, and banditry because they required enormous resources to do so.

Egbetokun stated that the police force currently struggles with inadequate training and a shortage of manpower.

The police boss called for improved personnel training to enable modern policing, adding that funding was necessary to help maintain internal security.

He said a lack of maintenance and renovation had left most police barracks in disrepair.

“This has had a negative impact on the performance of the policemen,” he said.