A civil rights organisation, Save Lagos Group (SLG) has condemned moves
\nbeing made by state governors to establish policing structures and systems
\nin their respective domains and local governments under their control
\nsaying the move is ill-motivated, selfish, wicked and unconstitutional.<\/p>\n
In a statement issued by the Convener, Comrade Adeniyi A. Sulaiman on
\nFriday, the Save Lagos Group urged the National Assembly not to be part of
\nthe scheme, which he stated was aimed at further subjugating the people of
\nthe country.<\/p>\n
Sulaiman condemned the meeting between the police top hierarchy and state
\ngovernors under the auspices of the Governors\u2019 Forum, saying all men of
\ngoodwill must stand up to stop this \u2018shenanigan\u2019 being carried out by the
\nstate chief executives all in the name of an illegal entity, which is
\nunknown to any law of the land.<\/p>\n
On the dangers inherent in the call for the establishment of the state and
\nlocal government policing structures in the country, Sulaiman on behalf of
\nthe group said the current political office holders both at the two tiers
\nof government lacked the maturity to be given that kind of privilege.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are opposed to the idea and the move by these governors who are being
\nurged on by the Acting President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo. Our opposition
\nis based on the current realities in the various states across the country
\nwhere the governors have constituted themselves into despotic emperor.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe little policing structure that they have been using in their
\nrespective states have turned to punitive tools with which they have been
\nusing against the hapless and powerless people of their states who are
\ndaily subjected harrowing brutality of operatives of these quasi-police
\nforces.\u201d<\/p>\n
He gave the example of Lagos where men of the Kick Against Indiscipline
\n(KAI) and the newly established Neighbourhood Safety Corps have been
\nbrutalizing the people of the state over sundry little offences such as
\ncross the expressway.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are daily witnesses to the atrocities being carried out by KAI and men
\nof the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) on the people of
\nLagos everyday. Our worry is that when these corps are invested with
\npowers to carry guns, only God knows the fate that awaits the people of
\nthe state in their hands as we all know that their activities are
\nsubjected to the control of politicians in Lagos State who might use them
\nas victimization tools against their opponents.\u201d He said.<\/p>\n
Sulaiman also buttressed his call with outcomes of elections being
\nconducted by the various State Independent Electoral Commissions where the
\nparty in power usually wins 100 per cent of all the seats in a very
\nincredible fashion.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust picture when the state governors now control the security apparatus,
\nwhat fate will befall the opposition parties, when the police which is
\nsupposed to be unbiased and provide security of lives and property to all
\nand sundry during an election now become partisan? This will not in anyway
\nadvance the cause of democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n
While stating that the group is not in anyway opposed to the idea, Save
\nLagos Group maintained that the state governors lacked the maturity to
\nhandle the possibility of managing such and that that the plan be shelved
\nfor now until a later date when the country would have matured in its
\ndemocratic experiment.<\/p>\n
On the way forward, the Save Lagos Group canvassed the need to properly
\nequip the current structure in such a way to make them functionally
\nimpactful to the average Nigerian on the street, who yearn to be well and
\nbetter protected.<\/p>\n
\u201cApart from giving them the requisite equipment to function, we also
\ncalled on the Federal Government to make sure that the Nigerian Police
\nForce has adequate manpower to better police the country and this can be
\nachieved by mass recruitment of personnel. They must also ensure that the
\nwelfare of personnel is given adequate priority as a way of motivating
\noperatives to perform.\u201d He said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are calling on the National Assembly not to be part of this
\nshenanigan, which is at variance to the needs and desire of the Nigerian
\npeople but which is being carried out to preserve the selfish interest of
\nthe governors. We call on them to throw out the bill into the trash can
\nwhen it is presented to members as doing otherwise will make them court
\ntrouble from the Nigerian people.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are on the alert on this issue and we urge the National Assembly to
\nside with the people on this subject matter. Should the National Assembly
\ngives out any suggestion that it would do otherwise, we are already
\nmobilizing our members to picket the Assembly complex as a way of putting
\nour message across.\u201d He said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":58715,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-58710","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n