STATE POLICE OFF AGENDA AS NEC MEETS THURSDAY

Deliberations for the creation of state police are off the agenda as the National Economic Council meets on Thursday April 24.

Vice President Kashim Shettima is expected to chair Thursday’s meeting, the second in 2025, at the Council Chamber of Aso Rock Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Thursday’s meeting comes amid fresh attacks in Plateau, Benue and Enugu states. Since early April, more than 120 locals have been shot, hacked or burnt to death in Plateau State alone, according to Amnesty International and multiple eyewitness accounts.

Relief agencies say the toll is higher, citing coordinated night raids on Bokkos and Bassa that left burnt homes and 3,000 displaced in Plateau. In Benue, at least 56 people were killed in Logo and Gbagir after twin assaults blamed on armed herders.

On February 15, 2024, the Federal Government, alongside the 36 states, began talks expected to culminate in the creation of state police