RIFNOTE
Chief Adeseye Ogunlewe, Nigeria’s former Minister of Works and elder statesman, has called on the Federal Government to increase the numerical strength of mobile policemen to tackle the current wave of banditry and terrorism in the country.
According to Ogunlewe, Nigeria needs nothing less than 300,000 mobile policemen to fight insecurity. In a chat with Rifnote, the politician said mobile policemen were better trained to fight insurgency,banditry and any form of insurrection, noting that Nigeria should stop engaging soldiers in matters of internal security.
“Internal security is basically the constitutional responsibility of the police,not the military.We have so involved our military so much in our internal security that we can’t allow it to continue. Mobile policemen are trained a lot higher than normal pol ice to face this kind of insurgency,to face banditry,to face any form of insurrection.Let the military go back to the barracks.Let the police take over.”
Ogunlewe ‘s appeal came on the back of the recent attacks in three local governments in Plateau State that reportedly left at least 195 dead and. over 2,000 houses burnt. The former Minister of Works said the investments Nigeria desires may continue to elude Nigeria as no investor wants to get killed in a country that cannot guarantee security of lives and property.
