Use FCT To Test Run State Police, FCT Lawmaker Tells Tinubu
By Chinedu Echianu
The lawmaker representing Abuja Municipal and Bwari Area Councils in the House of Representatives, Hon. Joshua Chinedu-Obika has made a passionate appeal to President Bola Tinubu to consider adopting the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) for a pilot scheme in state policing as a way of tackling what he described as the alarming and unprecedented rate of insecurity in the nation’s capital.
Speaking in an interview with Democracy Radio, Obika said he had written to President Tinubu intimating him of the massive insecurity in the FCT and the need for concerted effort to tackle the menace in order to avoid an embarrassment of international proportion whereby a diplomat or foreign dignitary is kidnapped in the FCT.
“Abuja is the seat of power, Abuja houses all the Ambassadors, Embassies and is the headquarters of multinationals. Abuja is the face of Nigeria, but today the security of Abuja is deteriorating, people are being kidnapped and killed, a lot of robberies going on here and there, car snatching, one chance robberies, people are being stabbed just for phone that they have or bags that don’t even contain any valuables. That shouldn’t be, if Abuja continues this way, we have lost it all. Abuja should be a pacesetter state for our nation and this is a state being governed by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as governor while the minister administers on behalf of the President.” Obika lamented.
Speaking further, the Labour Party lawmaker insisted that the establishment of state police would go a long way in curbing the rampant insecurity in the FCT and also serve as a marker to the effectiveness of local policing to the rest of the country, he said; “I have made a case for state police in Nigeria and Mr. President is a man who has been seen from day one as an advocate for restructuring of the Federation even before he became President. Its what he has fought for over the years and now as President of this country it should be in the front burner of his administration’s policies. State police is the only thing that will change the security situation in the country, and for us to convince others to agree to it, we have the opportunity to use Abuja to test run what state police should be in our Nation.
“Abuja is not under any state government, it is under the federal government, when policing of Abuja is removed from the national police and state police is established with direct funding for its operations, the Abuja police will be adequately funded, have all the necessary equipment needed to fight crime, Abuja police should have drones to monitor the territory, it should have a well-equipped forensic department to detect crimes using finger print evidence.
“This city needs to be protected, this city that I have lived in since 1996 is no longer the same, and I’m pained that we would allow the nation’s capital to be overwhelmed by this large-scale insecurity and we are sweeping it under the carpet as if nothing is happening. People’s houses are being burgled, I cannot tell you how many vehicles that people lose on daily basis from car snatching, people park their vehicles in front of their offices and come out and don’t see it any more. The other day in Kuduru a man was killed by bandits, robberies going on, things that have not been happening before.
“Imagine any of these diplomats getting kidnapped? What kind of image would that give to us, would that not put us in very bad light in the international community? Something must be done. State police is the way to go and Abuja must be the place to test run it to show that it is possible, that’s where I stand.” Obika concluded.
Image credit: independent.ng
