Kaduna State Governor Uba Sani has declared that terrorists who kill innocent citizens have no right to live and should not be forgiven under any circumstances.
Sani made the remarks on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Wednesday, hours after the Senate passed a bill to establish state police services across the federation. “I don’t believe terrorists deserve a second chance. They must be eliminated,” he said, maintaining an uncompromising position on how the state should deal with violent extremism.
The governor also dismissed concerns that state police could be weaponised by governors to intimidate opposition figures or suppress political dissent. He argued that the bill as passed contains sufficient safeguards to prevent abuse, pointing specifically to provisions limiting a governor’s authority over state commissioners of police.
“You can appoint the commissioner of police but you cannot sack him. It must be with the approval of the Police Service Commission or Police Council as well as the National Assembly together with the State Assembly. So, there are a lot of safeguards to stop the abuse,” he said.
Sani, one of several governors who have advocated for state police as a solution to rising insecurity, expressed confidence that the initiative would be widely embraced by Nigerians. He described the proposal as purely security-driven rather than politically motivated, saying it was aimed solely at improving the protection of lives and property.
President Bola Tinubu had transmitted the bill to the Senate on Tuesday, and the upper chamber passed it on Wednesday following a clause-by-clause consideration with support from more than two-thirds of senators. The legislation, if signed into law, will replace the existing Nigeria Police Force framework with a dual structure comprising a Federal Police Service and State Police Services.
A key provision empowers state governors to appoint commissioners of police subject to confirmation by state Houses of Assembly. Lawmakers also incorporated additional safeguards aimed at protecting civil liberties and political freedoms under the new policing structure.
