Abuja deserves state police, group tells FG

A group, Network of Journalists on Indigenous Issues (NEJII), on Monday said the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) should be taken into consideration when the state police law comes into force.

He said the FCT deserves to have a local police force made up of indigenous people from the area.

NEJII in a statement signed by its officials, Akinwale Kasali and Fred Ojinika, said Abuja, although not yet the state capital, should not be deprived of local police from the Abuja Original Inhabitants (AOI).

The group noted that security is linked to territorial sovereignty, physical and economic origins, adding that the federal government’s position denies the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

”The idea of ​​not having the State Police in Abuja is wrong.

There are approximately 2.5 million indigenous people in the Federal Capital Territory. There should be a State Police in Abuja which should be made up of indigenous people of the FCT.

“The Nigerian government should learn from the policing structure of Washington, London and New York. Global best practice is for state capitals to have their own police force largely made up of native inhabitants of the capital. In the case of Abuja, there are approximately nine indigenous ethnic groups in the FCT. They should not be denied this historic opportunity,” NEJII said.

The group said the proposed State Police should recognize the Abuja Metropolitan Police made up of indigenous inhabitants of the FCT.

He argued that the original inhabitants of Abuja constitute the majority of people in the FCT.