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Fashola, Others Differ On State Police

Submitted by LEADERSHIP EDITORS on May 21, 2012 - 3:26am

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The Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola has called for proactive measures and changes in the modus operandi of the police force.

The governor also said that the federal government- controlled police force failed woefully on the serious business of checkmating the activities of criminals, fraudsters, armed robbers and other deterrents.

Represented by Major Tunde Panus, special adviser on security at the Civil Society Panel on Police Reform at Lagos Airport Hotel in Ikeja, Fashola insisted that the only solution to the mess in the present police force is for an enabling environment to be made for the emergence of state police.

Fashola said: “It is imperative to address the myriad of problems facing the Nigeria Police Force. We cannot continue to talk about the strategies to restructure the Nigeria Police without tackling the root causes of crimes in the country. The major causes of crimes have been poverty, illiteracy and unemployment which are rampant among the youths, and there is need for us to devote our resources to community building, education and workforce development   that provide jobs to make a living because the future of Nigeria and our democracy depends on them.”

But a former Solictor-General for the state, Mr. Fola Arthur Worrey, posited that a state police may not be suitable for the country now as there are anomalies in the functions and operations of the police force in Nigeria and as such has caused a proliferation limiting the functions of the police.