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Fayemi canvasses decentralisation of security, law enforcement agencies

By Ayodele Afolabi, Ado-Ekiti
07 October 2019   |   3:38 am
Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi has said that government must consider decentralising security and law enforcement agencies from the federal to state down to the community.He added that partnership in the security sector and inter-agency collaboration...

[FILES] Chairman of the forum and Ekiti State Governor, Kayode Fayemi

Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi has said that government must consider decentralising security and law enforcement agencies from the federal to state down to the community.He added that partnership in the security sector and inter-agency collaboration must be encouraged to bring about effective policing of both land and coastal regions of the country.

Fayemi also stressed the need for the country to adopt multi-level approach in tackling security challenges, urging government to develop enduring national security policies.

According to a statement by the Governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Yinka Oyebode yesterday, Fayemi spoke at the weekend at a public lecture titled,“Perspectives on Security Challenges in Nigeria from 1999 to 2019: The Way Forward” organised by the Yoruba Tennis Club in Lagos to mark its 93rd anniversary.

The governor said it had become imperative for government to look at other mechanism in addressing insecurity in the country, in addition to military intervention.He stated that the police, as the traditional and age-long security outfit, was being relegated to the background for lack of necessary tools needed to effectively carry out their duties as the friends of the masses.

On the other hand, he said the military was being elevated with provision of state-of-the-art facilities and equipment.The governor, therefore, sought a reform of the Nigeria Police Force in line with what is obtainable from the criminal justice system by strengthening its capacity to carry out investigations without political interference.

He also said that the re-training, re-tooling and re-arming of the police should be a priority so that the force could carry out its roles effectively.“From a strategic point of view, it is necessary that the military’s role as an elite specialist weapon of last resort be fastidiously preserved while we leverage other resources and tools that are part of the security sector’s arsenal. This means re-tooling, re-training and re-arming the police force – much neglected in the scheme of security planning and recognising their premier role in the field of law enforcement and the first line in national security management.

“Effective policing in a democratic environment requires the civilianisation of the service. “No reform of the police force will be complete without a corresponding wide-ranging reform of our weak criminal justice system,” he said. The prosecutors, the judiciary and the correctional institutions are strategic partners with the police service in the law enforcement and security architecture,” he said.

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