The former vice president of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), Issa Aremu, has called on the governors of the southwestern part of the country to avoid decentralizing the police through the back door with the launch of the Amotekun security outfit.
Mr Aremu while speaking with journalists in Ilorin the Kwara state capital noted that the issue of security is on the exclusive list of the constitution and short therapy should not be employed to solve security issues in the country.
“It is a very interesting initiative to address the issue of security at the regional level, but I’m not sure whether most Nigerians, including the citizens in the Southwest, are clear about the rules guiding the new security outfit. It has come as a short therapy; I think we need a gradualist approach to addressing our security architecture.
“My advice to the governors is that anything they want to do should be done within the constitutional arrangement of Nigeria; today, security is on the exclusive list of our constitution, we should not decentralise the police through the backdoor, it has to be done through the open door and we should be clear what the terms are.”
He, however, called for caution as it could lead to the proliferation of arms; while suggesting that efforts should be made at increasing the number of police officers in the country.
“The uniform given to youths, however, defined, are they trained, are they trainable, what do you pay them, what arms do you give them, will it not lead to the proliferation of arms”?
“I think we need to be careful, Nigeria needs more policemen and women because we are already under policed in the country.”
