Temitope Akindele is the south west zonal coordinator of Crime Prevention Campaign (CPC) an NGO saddled with the responsibility of assisting the police in crime prevention and campaign against vices. He is also the vice chairman of custom licensed. Agents, Lagos Airport branch. In this interview with Benjamin Owobu and Wilson Ofiavwe, Akindele revealed that crime prevention in Nigeria should be a joint efforts by police and NGO's, Except.Recently some ammunition were recovered in one of your strong rooms, by officials of the Nigerian custom. As one of the executives of clearing agents association what measures are you putting in place to educate the importers on the dangers of importing weapons'As the vice chairman of the association, we do talk to our clients that they should not do business with someone they do not know. Mostly because we were not there when those luggage were been packaged overseas. And if at all you see anybody that comes to you, maybe he has any consignment to clear, first of all check the address and identity of that person. Deal with people that you know, people that you know their source, even up to where they live, because when it happens we would not be there. We cannot be accused of anything. An agent cannot be accused of all these things because when consignments left overseas, we the agents were not there. It is when we get the airway bill and see what is declared on the manifest or on the airway bill, then we know the content of the consignment. We try to tell our clients to be security conscious and they should not do business with people they do not know.The State Security Service SSS arrested the spokesman of Boko Haram and he indicted a serving senator of being their informant what is your take on this'Firstly I have to commend the efforts of our security agency because these days they are proactive. When the issue of Boko Haram was not in existence, there were a lot of lapses in the security. But it has gone across the whole country and we all know as individuals that we are not safe. That is the reason why everybody has to wage war against Boko Haram and we must know their source so as to able to tackle them. It was after one of them was arrested that he pointed an accusing finger at one of our serving senator as their informant and the financiers, As an NGO this is what we have been saying all the time, the security agencies cannot do it alone. It has gotten to a state whereby the federal government should help promote the NGO's too to assist the police in crime prevention. All these Boko Haram are human beings like us and not spirits. They live among us. When the NGOs are supported, we know where to go. We should be encouraged and mobilized so that we can contribute our own quota to the security threat be felling us as as nation.What measures do you thinks should be put in place in averting future terrorist uprising like the Boko Haram and MEND in the Niger Delta.My advice to the federal government is that it has reached a stage where we need is a strong campaign because such sects begin in our neighborhood as people. We need a strong campaign so that, the children too would know what crime is, what they should and not do. We should spread this campaign even up to prison yards. Some of the prisoners do not even know what brought them there but through such campaign they will know. The federal government should encourage the NGO through so as to be able to move from place to place,letting people know what crime is all about, so that they will not partake in crime. As an NGO we have a crime prevention proposal that we have sent to the federal government years ago .The federal government should be very careful, If there is a fight in a neighboring country, about 80percent of these people have access to ammunition. At the end of the day those arms would not be returned to the armory. They keep it and then begin to sell the ammunition to the countries that are very close to them. But through our campaign people will know that it is wrong. We are appealing to the federal government that they should encourage NGOs. And also check the excesses of the police and other security agencies. We are prepared to help sanitize this country with all we have at our disposal.How do you think the police can be checked I would like to commend the effort of the Inspector General of the Police because before now we knew how the police was. He has put a lot of measures in place. The police often complain about their welfare package as it has not been taken care of.. If they are being taken care of the idea of extortion would not be an issues. Hafiz Ringim has a given directives some time about this checking points but are finding shows that if you drive around the country you still find the check points. What are they doing' How many stolen cars had since been recovered with amount of this road block across the countries, As an NGO what we do is to drive to some of the check point in Lagos and ask the officers on the duty of how will can assist them in terms of needs, also, what challenges they are facing on the highways, in essence what will are saying is that the police should be better taken care of in the area of accommodation provision and all other incentives if all this are met it will bring crime to its barest minimal.How should the government come to the aid of NGOsOne major area is mobilisation. We finance our NGO with our personal finances. The federal government should include NGOs in its annual budget. That will enable us especially in moving from place to place. We need vehicles, we need to print fliers, we need banners, when we go on campaigns. We would judiciously use such aid. This is a voluntary effort, and we want to make sure that security should be every bodies concern.What measures do you think Nigerians should put in place to be more security conscious during this Ember monthsAs I always say there is nothing special in December, but people should not forget that as we are preparing for the festive period, there are also some people preparing to collect whatever you have gathered from January to December. Banks have made it easy for people. People should not carry large sums of money and travel during the festive period. Again do not let people know about your movements during this festive period. Mostly people having projects outside the states they reside should be security conscious. When you go round the country, there are several check points on the highways, do you think these will curb the menace of the Boko Haram'It is supposed to curb the security threats, but the police cannot do it alone. There should be a mixture of other security agencies like the Army, Air force, Navy, and the Customs, as well as other para military. If the police alone are left on the highway definitely they cannot do it alone. Confidently I can tell you that culprits fear soldiers much more than they fear the police, because the arms that they carry that police do not have. Also our porous land border should be taken over by the Nigerian Army, whatever that has to do with the Sea let the Navy take charge, the Airport should be taken over by the Air force. There is no how a police men can secure the airport alone.How do you think it will work'Let me give you a vivid example. During the regime of Buba Marwa in Lagos state, there was a mixture of security agencies. Then security was much more guaranteed than what it used to be today. Let the government put it into trail, if it fails they should try another method. Can you let us into your background'lam Temitope Akindele, the south west coordinator of Crime Prevention Campaign, an NGO saddled with the responsibility of assisting the police in crime prevention and campaign against vices. Also, I am the current Vice Chairman Association of Nigerian Licensed Custom Agents, Airport branch.
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