STATE POLICING: A PANACEA TO THE SECURITY CHALLENGE IN NIGERIA

Abstract

Insecurity is a cankerworm that is eating deep into the fabric of Nigerian society its multidimensional exhibition in form of kidnapping/demand for gargantuan ransom, Fulani herdsmen invasion, banditry, destruction of government properties, cultism, bombing activities by the Islamic sect (Boko Haram) to mention but a few. All of these justify the agitation and viability of state policing as a remedy to this malady. This paper therefore submits that poverty, ethno-religious intolerance and weak security structure are the critical factors responsible for the insecurity scourge in Nigeria. The study concludes that decentralisation of the police will to a greater extent curb the menace.