Ikpeazu said this on Monday while delivering the keynote address at the fifth edition of The Osasu Show Symposium 2021, at the International Conference Centre, Abuja.
He said, “We have a skewed security architecture. The uniqueness of our security challenge requires that we not only have a state police but also county police.”
Referencing the recent kidnappings and attacks in Plateau State, Ikpeazu blamed the worsening security crisis on an overly centralized policing system.
He said, “If we had state police and county police, we would have been able to apprehend the criminals.
“By the time information leaves Plateau State to Abuja and back, we must have lost previous time.
“When a governor who is called the Chief Security Officer of his state relies on his Commissioner of Police to receive directive from Abuja, it leaves so much to be desired.”
The Governor recalled the violence that trailed the #EndSARS protests where security operatives cowed before hoodlums when orders from above were late in coming.
“I remember during the #EndSARS protests when hoodlums attacked the Onion Market in Abuja.
“The soldiers who were on guard saw some of the hoodlums wielding AK-47s but they had to reach their commander who had to contact a higher officer.
“Before they could receive feedback, the hoodlums were dangerously close and the soldiers had to abandon their posts, leaving the traders and market open to attack,” he lamented.