A former chairman of Oyigbo local government area of Rivers State, Hon Innocent Ajaelu, has said introduction of state police in the country will strengthen security of lives and property in communities, especially in Rivers State.
Ajaelu, who disclosed this in an interview with LEADERSHIP in Port Harcourt, commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the state governors for taking such bold step.
He dismissed insinuations that governors will hijack the state police and used same against their political opponents.
The former LG chairman expressed the hope that crime rate will reduce in the country if the state police will co-opt those managing security in communities in the country.
Ajaelu said: “On the issue of state police for me, it is long overdue for the government of the day to formalise it and put it into practice.
“That is the only way crime rate will be reduced. First, most of the people to be engaged in the outfit are people who are known in their various communities.
“If a crime is committed in a community, those engaged will identify and arrest the culprit without waste of time because they know all the faces in the communities. Those who commit crime in our neighbourhoods did not fall from heaven; they live in the communities, they live in the towns.
“So, I support the state police to come in place because it is the only fastest way to eradicate crime in our communities.
“There is no community in Nigeria now that does not have an internal arrangement on how to secure people living there. So, it makes the work easier for the federal government.
“If those in-charge of the state police will engage the internal security arrangements in communities, crime rate will reduce,” he said.
