Nigeria’s Senate approved a constitutional amendment bill that will allow each state to create their own police forces, marking a new effort to tackle an endemic, decades-old security crisis.
Waves of terrorist attacks, clashes between farmers and herders, as well as kidnappings for ransom have bedeviled Nigerian citizens in recent years, stifling economic growth and productivity in many parts of the country. More than 400 kidnappings have been recorded in Nigeria’s northwest region this year, according to conflict tracking platform ACLED.
The approved bill will go to state assemblies and the president before becoming law. Calls for police forces run by each of the 36 states have grown louder over the years, with proponents arguing that a central police force in Abuja has proven inadequate in overseeing the country’s security needs. But critics warned that state governors could manipulate police under their control for political reasons.
