Nigeria is not ripe for state police - AIG

Mr Solomon Olusegun, the Assistant Inspector-General of Police (AIG), Zone 9, has said that Nigeria is not ripe for the operation of state police.Olusegun, who said this in Enugu during his visit to the state Police Command, noted that the policy was tried in the first republic without success.'It will be misused and a situation where some state governors are complaining of paucity of funds, how will they fund such outfit,' he queried.The AIG commended the officers and men of the command for a job well-done, saying Enugu State was maintaining the lead in low-crime rate in the zone.He reminded them that policing was a difficult job and that nobody could pay enough for the sacrifice.According to him, rather, they should be loyal, patriotic and nationalistic to always succeed even in the face of deprivations.Olusegun reminded them that if they were able to fight robbery, kidnapping, car-snatching and cultism, they would be on top of the security situations and crime prevention in state.He said that the Inspector General of Police (IG) had ordered the re-structuring of the PCRC at both state and zonal levels with the aim of reducing crime and enhancing good police public relations.Responding, the state Chairman of the PCRC, Dr Ben Udeze, said the police and the community they served should partner for success to be achieved.He promised that they would foster good relations with the police and provide information flow for effective community policing in the state.In his speech, the state Commissioner of Police, Mr Musa Daura, told the visiting AIG that the command had three Area Commands and 37 divisions in the 17 local government areas.Daura noted that despite the security challenges in the country, Enugu State was relatively peaceful as the command had put in place proactive mechanisms that had been assisting them to reduce crime.He listed their challenges to include, inadequate manpower with a total of 4,684 personnel which was below the personnel strength required for the command.Other challenges are, lack of adequate transport/logistics, barracks accommodation and arms and ammunition.Daura, therefore, urged the AIG to help the command in these areas to ensure effective operation.
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