Group seeks adoption of state police system in Nigeria

Sequel to Monday’s tragic outcome of a protest by Yoruba Nation agitators in Ojota, Lagos, a socio-political organisation, SRG, has reiterated the need for a state policing system, as a way of curbing excesses from local security agencies.

In a statement by the national coordinator and convener of SRG , Dr. Charles Marindoti Oludare, the group condemned in totality, use of gunshots to disperse peaceful protesters by policemen, as reported, saying such should be condemned by all people of good conscience.
The SRG remarked that:”This is a sad reminder of the refusal of the Nigerian state to adopt the state police architecture for interior security, long advocated by the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.”
While commiserating with families of victims of the attack, the SRG urged Nigerians to seize the occasion of next month’s presidential election to vote for a candidate that would advance the cause of true federalism.
The statement further reads:”If we had operated local/state Police in concert with other federal investigative and intelligence agencies, a peaceful protest would not have turned bloody, especially as prospective leaders of the protesters would have been legally profiled by the state police apparatus, whose men and officers are members of the community.
“In our community, despite our diverse culture and ethnicity, we know each other, as it is the case in every community in the Nigerian federation. The police will know the people living in that community, root out outside crisis actors and protect the peaceful protesters from the community, wherein they will mount the stump, address their gathering, and return home; without any incident.
“Our presidential system is ordinarily a carry-over of the American system, but local circumstances have given us a perverted version and we are all suffering for it.” ——————–