Insecurity: Senate drafting law on state police, says Bamidele

Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele has disclosed that the National Assembly is in the process of developing legal frameworks for the creation of state police in Nigeria.

Bamidele said the establishment of the state police will serve as part of measures to address insecurity in the country.

Bamidele made this known in a statement issued on Sunday, April 20, 2025.

The lawmaker also celebrated with Christians worldwide to mark Easter, urging leaders across boards to shun divisive agenda and narratives that could compound the country’s challenges.

Bamidele urged Nigerians “to consciously reflect on the virtues of Jesus Christ; learn from His consecration and live His life of purpose rooted in the pursuit of justice love and redemption for humanity.”

He stated: “In spite of the animosity He suffered and opposition He faced, Jesus Christ consciously sought and secured freedom for the captives, peace for the troubled, comfort for the sorrowful, love for the dejected, justice for the oppressed and hope for those who are in despair.

“In Nigeria today, Christ’s example clearly presents us a glimpse of how we should live together.

“As compatriots and not competitors, collaborators and not combatants, comrades and not contenders in the task of building a viable and virile federation that will serve the interest of all.

“The recent killings in Benue and Plateau States outrightly negated the virtues of peace and love that Jesus Christ taught during His days.

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“The recurrent utterances by some political and sectional figures also belied the values of courage, perseverance and tolerance He evidently lived for.

“No country develops as a result of one section rising up against another vice versa.

“The Authority of the National Assembly is in the process of developing legal frameworks for the establishment of state police as one of the measures to address insecurity in the country.

“We urge security agencies to work together as a team to track and apprehend all the masterminds and sponsors of terror attacks nationwide.

“We appeal to some political actors that always lash on the country’s challenges to push divisive narratives to learn from the example of Jesus Christ.

“Such actors are no longer playing opposition politics, but simply taking advantage of the country’s internal conditions in the pursuit of their own parochial political outcomes.”

A State Police Bill was sponsored by former Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu (PDP-Enugu).

The bill seeks to establish the Federal Police, State Police, National Police Service Commission, National Police Council, and State Police Service Commission for states across the country.

It was first introduced to the eighth Senate on June 12, 2018, but did not scale through.

Ekweremadu, currently serving a jail term in the United Kingdom, was the chairman of the constitution review committee at the time.

The Star