A civil rights organisation, Save Lagos Group (SLG) has condemned moves
being made by state governors to establish policing structures and systems
in their respective domains and local governments under their control
saying the move is ill-motivated, selfish, wicked and unconstitutional.
In a statement issued by the Convener, Comrade Adeniyi A. Sulaiman on
Friday, the Save Lagos Group urged the National Assembly not to be part of
the scheme, which he stated was aimed at further subjugating the people of
the country.
Sulaiman condemned the meeting between the police top hierarchy and state
governors under the auspices of the Governors’ Forum, saying all men of
goodwill must stand up to stop this ‘shenanigan’ being carried out by the
state chief executives all in the name of an illegal entity, which is
unknown to any law of the land.
On the dangers inherent in the call for the establishment of the state and
local government policing structures in the country, Sulaiman on behalf of
the group said the current political office holders both at the two tiers
of government lacked the maturity to be given that kind of privilege.
“We are opposed to the idea and the move by these governors who are being
urged on by the Acting President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo. Our opposition
is based on the current realities in the various states across the country
where the governors have constituted themselves into despotic emperor.
“The little policing structure that they have been using in their
respective states have turned to punitive tools with which they have been
using against the hapless and powerless people of their states who are
daily subjected harrowing brutality of operatives of these quasi-police
forces.”
He gave the example of Lagos where men of the Kick Against Indiscipline
(KAI) and the newly established Neighbourhood Safety Corps have been
brutalizing the people of the state over sundry little offences such as
cross the expressway.
“We are daily witnesses to the atrocities being carried out by KAI and men
of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) on the people of
Lagos everyday. Our worry is that when these corps are invested with
powers to carry guns, only God knows the fate that awaits the people of
the state in their hands as we all know that their activities are
subjected to the control of politicians in Lagos State who might use them
as victimization tools against their opponents.” He said.
Sulaiman also buttressed his call with outcomes of elections being
conducted by the various State Independent Electoral Commissions where the
party in power usually wins 100 per cent of all the seats in a very
incredible fashion.
“Just picture when the state governors now control the security apparatus,
what fate will befall the opposition parties, when the police which is
supposed to be unbiased and provide security of lives and property to all
and sundry during an election now become partisan? This will not in anyway
advance the cause of democracy.”
While stating that the group is not in anyway opposed to the idea, Save
Lagos Group maintained that the state governors lacked the maturity to
handle the possibility of managing such and that that the plan be shelved
for now until a later date when the country would have matured in its
democratic experiment.
On the way forward, the Save Lagos Group canvassed the need to properly
equip the current structure in such a way to make them functionally
impactful to the average Nigerian on the street, who yearn to be well and
better protected.
“Apart from giving them the requisite equipment to function, we also
called on the Federal Government to make sure that the Nigerian Police
Force has adequate manpower to better police the country and this can be
achieved by mass recruitment of personnel. They must also ensure that the
welfare of personnel is given adequate priority as a way of motivating
operatives to perform.” He said.
“We are calling on the National Assembly not to be part of this
shenanigan, which is at variance to the needs and desire of the Nigerian
people but which is being carried out to preserve the selfish interest of
the governors. We call on them to throw out the bill into the trash can
when it is presented to members as doing otherwise will make them court
trouble from the Nigerian people.
“We are on the alert on this issue and we urge the National Assembly to
side with the people on this subject matter. Should the National Assembly
gives out any suggestion that it would do otherwise, we are already
mobilizing our members to picket the Assembly complex as a way of putting
our message across.” He said.