Former President Goodluck Jonathan has said that commercial kidnapping started in 2006 in the Niger Delta when he was the governor of Bayelsa State.
Jonathan made this known at a national dialogue in Abuja on State Police organised by the House of Representatives.
The former president, who threw his weight behind the establishment of state police, said: “Commercial kidnapping started around 2006 when I was governor.
“But it started in the Niger Delta.
“Now it is all over the country.
“The only thing that can help us if we cannot stop it completely, at least we reduce it to the barest minimum, is for states to have their police.
“I was a governor.
“I operated at the state level for eight years, deputy governor and governor.
“And getting to the centre, vice president and president for another eight years.
“I know that in Bayelsa and other states, they have some elements of security operatives that assisted the police to work very well.
“In Bayelsa State when we took over, the state was almost ungovernable.
“Former Military Head of State, retired General) Abdulsalami (Abubakar) would remember that when elections were to be conducted in December 1998, the security situation was so bad so the elections were pushed to January 1999.
“When we took over, the state was in crisis.
“Niger Delta agitation was there.
“The criminal elements were also operating in the creeks and they were causing issues for market women and others until (late Dipreye) Alamieyeseigha, then the governor, set up the Bayelsa Volunteers that worked with the police.
“We built stations around parts of the creeks and the boys volunteered to work with the police and that brought the situation down.
“So there is no way we can manage internal security if states would not have their police.
“But how would the state police function vis-a-vis the national security architecture?
“When I set up the 2014 National Dialogue, during that period we had lots of challenges in the country.
“People were agitating.
“So many areas.
“But one thing that the almost 500 agreed without much ado was the issue of state police.
“When that issue came up, everyone supported the issue of state police.
“So we cannot move away from state police.
“The issue of state police was accepted, the issue of the national border force was also accepted and the issue of coast guard was also accepted.
“And the National Assembly, while they are debating on conducting the public hearing on state police, these issues of national borders force must be considered.
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“Yes the Immigration and Customs carry out border controls, but they cannot play the role of national border force.
“When we have the national border force, we would be able to contain these enemies.
“Also, the Customs and Immigration, they also carry weapons, but they may not have been sufficiently armed to confront these criminals.
“I was in Customs for two years before I entered the university.
“What was given to us was not enough to confront the criminals.
“So these issues must be integrated with the issue of state police.
“Could the state police for riverine areas like the Niger Delta also play that role of coast guards?
“Could the ones in the boundary areas play the role of the national border force?
“This would surely help the country.
“We are not going to waste our time debating whether we should have state police or not.”
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