Akeredolu urges Nigerian govt to revisit demand for state police

The Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, on Thursday urged the Federal Government to revisit the demand for state police in Nigeria.

Akeredolu, who made the call when the new Assistant Inspector-General of Police in charge of Zone 17, Yunnus Mohammed Akeera, visited him at the Governor’s House in Akure, said Nigeria was in dire need of a workable strategy in dealing with the rising insecurity across the country.

He stressed that the Nigerian Police Force was understaffed and overstretched.

The present police system, according to him, was not good enough to secure the lives of Nigerians.

The governor has been unrelenting in his call for the establishment of state police as the ultimate solution to the country’s challenges.

His latest call came just 48 hours after members of the Islamic State for West African Province (ISWAP) attacked the Kuje correctional centre and freed hundreds of inmates in the facility.

READ ALSO: Nigeria requires state police to overcome security challenges – Akeredolu

Akeredolu said: “As you know, Zone 17 is probably one of the newest. When the zone was created the state government had to shoulder a lot of responsibilities. When we got you a location, we had to renovate it.

“We do not run away from the fact that the police is overstretched. The same thing, we do not run away from the fact that a single police command in Abuja will not be adequate to police the large populace of the country. This has led to our demand for state police.

“We can complement each other. I have had senior police officers who agree with the state police. Maybe they can’t say it in the public. Go to Ekiti and even here in Ondo State, most of the police stations have no vehicle. Look at the unfortunate incident that happened in Owo, police said they had no vehicle to pursue the perpetrators.

“Let us all sit down and agree that we should have a system that will create a division of labour. We can have the federal police and then, the state police. You can face up major tasks like intelligence gathering and pass it to the state police to work on.

“What is happening, if not for lack of intelligence people will not go to Kuje and attack the place in Abuja. We need your cooperation too in this our cry for a dual police System that we can work together.”

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