The Deputy President of the
Senate, Senator Ike Ekweremadu has stated that State Police was the only
solution to the killing of innocent Nigerians.
The lawmaker has been a frontline
campaigner for the decentralisation of the nation’s policing system.
He maintained his ground when he
appeared on Channels Television to discuss the issue.
He said funding and equipping the
police with all manner of sophisticated weapons will not end killings in the country,
using the killing of seven policemen during the week as an instance.
According to the Enugu-born
politician, “Yes, we need all those mechanisms in place, but even if we provide
them, the problem will still be there.
“In Abuja, for instance, we have
all kinds of equipment the police are using, all kinds of weapons, and well
trained policemen. But they killed seven policemen yesterday.
“I am not even talking about
citizens, who die on daily basis and nobody accounts for them. I am talking
about trained policemen.
“The criminal elements have
overwhelmed the security sector. That is the issue. We need to do something.
What we are talking about is decentralising the police.
“The first set of police we had
in this country were Native Authority Police, not the National Police. The
Ordinance of 1916 established the Native Authority Police in Nigeria. It was
further enhanced in 1924.
“It was only in 1936 that the
nationwide police was established. They all existed side by side until in 1966.
That was why in those days, if you were selling groundnut, you could keep your
groundnut in front of your house and go to the farm.
“Somebody would drop the money
and pick the groundnut he or she wanted. You didn’t need to fence your house,
or have a policeman following you around because there were policemen
everywhere. That was how it was structured.”
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