Nigeria’s Vice President Prof. Yemi Osinbajo has said for a country the size of Nigeria, the one policeman to 400 persons according to the UN prescribed ratio, would require almost triple the number of the country’s current police force.

 

While speaking at a security summit organized by the senate in Abuja, Osinbajo also said the Federal Government cannot police a country the size of Nigeria centrally from Abuja. He said state police and other community policing methods are clearly the way to go.

 

“The nature of our security challenges are complex. Securing Nigeria’s over 900sq/km and its 180 million people requires far more men and materials than we have at the moment. It also requires a continual re-engineering of our security architecture and strategies. This has to be a dynamic process.

 

“For a country our size, to meet the one policeman to 400 persons according to the UN prescribed ratio, we would require almost triple the number of our current police force. Far more funding for the military and security agencies is required,” he said.

On the issue of the Fulani and farmers crisis with the attendant debate on allocation of lands for the establishment of cattle colonies, the Vice President reiterated that on no account will any land be seized or forcefully taken to create ranches or grazing areas.

 

“All insinuations to that effect should be disregarded. Instead, it is in our view that states that are willing should cooperate even with willing investors into commercially viable government supported ranches or livestock production centers for commercial use,” he said.