The Chairman of the Lagos State Chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, Philip Aivoji, has said the problem of insecurity will be reduced substantially if state police is adopted in the country
The PDP Chairman made this remark in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Tuesday in Lagos State.
He was reacting to the proposed creation of state police in the ongoing constitutional amendment by the National Assembly.
Aivoji said state police would address many of the country’s internal security problems, if well managed by states.
The PDP boss, who was recently abducted by kidnappers and later released, said no effort should be spared in checking the rising insecurity across the country.
He said: “This call has been on for quite some time now as we look at the growing cases of kidnapping and violent crimes taking place across the country.
“The issue of the state police is a welcome development.
“What I understand by state police is that we get people in their environment and train them to police people in that locality.
“This is because they know the people in the environment and they can identify those who are natives of the area and when we have non-natives, they will be able to question such and know where they are coming from.
“So, if it is properly done and handled with all honesty, it will help a lot.”
Speaking on the possibility of it being abused by state governors, Aivoji said such tendencies had been responsible for the delay in the general acceptance of state police.
Noting that the federal police were also being used by the party in power against political enemies, the PDP Chairman said the advantages of state police outweighed the disadvantages.
He added: “To take away fear of state police being hijacked by political thugs during elections or other contests, we must make sure we get our electoral system right.
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“I think on the whole, state police is fine to cut this menace of insecurity.
“We can come up with our own traditional policing.
“So, it is good if it is well managed.”
The PDP boss called for strengthening of the existing federal police to ensure effective policing.
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