…Supports clamour for state police
Stephen Ukandu, Umuahia
Retired Deputy Inspector General of Police, DIG Godwin Nwobodo, has strongly advocated that Very Important Personalities (VIPs), requesting the services of police personnel should be made to pay into the coffers of the Federal Government, the actual salaries of the police personnel that escort them.
DIG Nwobodo who made the advocacy while featuring as a Keynote Speaker during the Ikengaonline monthly townhall meeting on Thursday night, said it was unacceptable to have a large number of police personnel escort VIPs while majority of the citizens are un-policed.
He said that making full payment of police escorts a condition for approving police escorts to VIPs, would tame the craze for police escorts in Nigeria.
According to him, its is unfair for the Federal Government to spend public funds on police personnel who only provide security to a few VIPs while the majority of the people do not enjoy similar services.
He contended that the VIPs who enjoy their services should be compelled to bear the cost of training and maintenance of the affected personnel.
“Those who use police escorts should be made to pay the salary of the policemen around them. Government should not be paying it for them.
“If you want police escort you pay for his training and his full salary. You should deposit such funds with the Federal Government.”
DIG Nwobodo supported the clamour for state police, arguing that it would help reduce insecurity across the country.
He particularly said that State Police remained the panacea to the festering insecurity in the South-East and other parts of the country, arguing that “people perform better in their familiar terrain.”
Blaming the monopoly of police by the Federal Government on the effects of the Nigeria civil war, Nwobodo argued that time had come for Nigeria to amend her constitution to allow for state police.
He urged members of the National Assembly to rise to the occasion as the establishment of state police will be in the overall national interest.
“Time has come for the legislation of unitary police to be revisited. If states are now allowed to build power plants and generate their own power, they should equally be allowed to set up state police.
“Nothing can stop an idea whose time has come. More pressure should be put on the powers that be for a constitutional amendment.”
On how state police could be effectively funded for optimal performance, the retired DIG suggested police tax, and police trust fund.
He also advised that the law establishing state police should be made so strong as to avoid abuse by some state governors who might want to convert them into tool of oppression against perceived opponents.
Nwobodo further noted that the federal police are already overstretched and overwhelmed, adding that state police will complement the efforts of the federal police.
