Ondo State Governor, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, has stated that the Nigeria Police Force is overstretched, understaffed and lacks the capacity to adequately protect the citizens of the country. Governor Akeredolu, who spoke in his office while playing host to the new Assistant Inspector-General of Police in charge of Zone 17, AIG Yunnus Mohammed Akeera, reiterated the need to have State Police to effectively secure the lives and property of the people.
He said a single police command in Abuja could not adequately secure the country. He said: “As you know, Zone 17 is probably one of the newest. When the Zone was created the State Government had to shoulder a lot of responsibilities. When we got you a location, we had to renovate it. The Trumpet Gathered
“We do not run away from the fact that the Police is overstretched. In the same way, we do not run away from the fact that a single police command in Abuja will not be adequate to police the large populace of the country. This has led to our demand for State Police.
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“We can complement each other. I have had Senior Police Officers who agreed on State Police. Maybe they can’t say it in public. Go to Ekiti and even here in Ondo State, most of the Police Stations have no vehicle. Look at the unfortunate incident that happened in Owo, Police said they had no vehicle to pursue the perpetrators.
“Let us all sit down and agree that we should have a system that will create division of labour. We can have the Federal Police and then, the State Police. You can face up to a major task like intelligence gathering and pass it to the State Police to work on. What is happening, if not for lack of intelligence people will not go to Kuje and attack the place in Abuja. We need your cooperation too in this our cry for a dual Police System that can work together.
“People are moving down south to take refuge in our forest. You don’t have the men and officers to secure the country. The Police Force is understaffed. We appreciate your limitations in terms of men, ammunition and so on,” the Governor said.
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