BY AMOS DUNIA, ABUJA – Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has thrown his weight behind the National Assembly over its decision to amend the constitution and formally provide for state police and community policing in the country.
He said the move will address and deal with the current deteriorating state of insecurity characterised by persistent loses of lives of innocent Nigerians at the hands of armed groups.
Atiku, who is the Waziri Adamawa noted that the lawmakers have by their action, demonstrated courage in seizing the initiative to intervene in the country’s security crisis.
Recalling the massacres in Zamfara, Benue, Plateau, Taraba, Adamawa and Kaduna States and the murder of seven policemen in Abuja while on active duty, Atiku said that decisive action is needed to address the current security challenges, stressing that given the seeming despair and helplessness of the citizens in the face of frequent deadly attacks, the National Assembly has a responsibility to give legal teeth to the creation of state police and community policing in the country.
The former Vice President said; “A peculiar crisis demands a decisive action, and I am one hundred percent behind the National Assembly in their efforts to strengthen the hands of state governments in providing security to their citizens.
“Leaving the citizens to their fate is not an option. Once a democratic government seems overwhelmed or paralyzed by security challenges, the initiative by the National Assembly should be welcomed by all Nigerians.”
He said that security strategies should be periodically reviewed because the criminals involved are also studying the weaknesses and strengths of our security system, adding that the state should always be ahead of the criminals or should be able to develop strategies that can neutralise them before they even strike.
Atiku therefore called on Nigerians to support the National Assembly and State Houses of Assembly in this bold decision to amend the constitution to create state police and community policing.
He also condoles with families and colleagues of seven Police officers who were killed by armed bandits in Abuja in the line of duty.
In his words; “Nigeria must show, by words and action, that the lives of our armed forces and the police and indeed of any Nigerian matter to us. Even one loss of life is a loss too many.”
