Criminals running riot, don’t wait for state police magic, Obi tells FG, govs

The 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, has called on the Federal Government and the 36 state governments of the Federation not to wait for the creation of state police before moving speedily to combat the criminals running riot in the country.

The Federal Government and the state governors had recently reached an agreement on the creation of state police as the state of insecurity continues to worsen across the country.

But reacting via his official X handle on Monday, the former Anambra State governor said immediate efforts should be made to curb the spiralling state of kidnapping and killings, as the implementation of the state police creation may take a while.

“While the idea of state policing, as discussed recently by the President and the 36 state governors, is a welcome development, and while looking forward to its implementation, which may still take a while, all efforts, at the moment, should be geared towards ending the ugly trend of insecurity in the nation.

“We should not just wait for the proposed state police to do the magic while we become lackadaisical and allow criminals to run riot like the recent reports in Zamfara and Kaduna states,” he stated.

According to him, “waking up every day to the sad news of terror attacks around the country remains very worrisome. Recently, gunmen were reported to have attacked a mosque in Katsina, killing worshippers and abducting several villagers.

“A terrorist attack was also reported in Kauru Local Government Area of Kaduna State, where six persons were reportedly killed and about 50 abducted. What is more worrisome is that these terrorists now boldly target security agents.

“Just yesterday, bandits were said to have attacked a police station in Zamfara, killing the Divisional Crime Officer, DCO. These and many other violent attacks and kidnappings-for-ransom in the country should keep the government and security agencies on their toes.

“Such a high level of insecurity, when combined with the high level of hunger and poverty in the country, forms a perfect recipe for disaster in our nation. We must therefore take all possible measures to ensure the security of lives and property in our dear nation,” he stated.