By Winnie Onu, Makurdi
The Benue State government has called for urgent decentralisation of policing powers and greater control over its economic resources at the ongoing constitutional review.
State’s Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice and Public Order, Chief Fidelis Bemseen Mnyim, also spotlighted security lapses and underutilised mineral wealth in the state.
Mnyim at the North Central public hearing on the review of Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution held in Lafia, Nasarawa State, delivered the position of Governor Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia.
He emphasised that the time had come for Nigeria to establish state police, arguing that governors are labeled “Chief Security Officers” but lack the authority to command security agencies when lives are on the line.
“We cannot continue to operate under a centralized system that clearly fails to address the security needs of our communities,” Mnyim said, citing the governor’s recent call for state policing during President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s condolence visit to Yelwata, following the killing of local farmers by herdsmen.
Beyond security, Mnyim spotlighted Benue’s mineral potential, noting that the state possesses all of Nigeria’s 44 known mineral resources, 36 of which exist in commercial quantities and called for legislative backing that would enable states like Benue to benefit more directly from their natural wealth.
