Following the wave of insecurity that is resurrecting especially Abuja, Federal capital Territory, FCT the House of Representative has dusted the state police bill for consideration. Chairman House Committee on information and communication Technology, Stanley Olajide, hinted this today Wednesday in Abuja while commiserating with the Oyo State Government and families of victims of the Tuesday explosion in Ibadan, the Oyo state capital.
It was reported that two persons died in the deadly blast in Ibadan yesterday after an explosion rocked Dejo Oyelese stareet in the Bodija area.
While speaking to pressmen at the Assembly complex in Abuja today, Olajide, a member representing the Ibadan North West/South West constituency of Oyo State revealed that communal policing remains the best way of safeguarding the people in our Nigeria of today.
According to him, “Community policing is actually one of the very smartest ways to police your people. Somebody sees something, and knows something; they need to speak at the right time.
“Failure to do so will cause situations like this. So, we are going to reopen that because remember, we have also been talking about state police, we will be talking about community police.
“I think you know a situation like this would actually present urgency to the matter, so that this way, we can get the right support that we need to pass whatever legislation that we need to pass for this.
He disclosed that very soon, the lawmakers may commence sitting on modalities of how the state policing will be fashioned to suit out current Nigerian insecurity.
Olajide applauded the Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde’s prompt response to the tragedy; the lawmaker said the state government acted swiftly to get the situation in check.
He laments, “We woke up to a very horrific situation in Ibadan which happened around 8 pm last night (Tuesday) from information gathered so far coming from the office of the Governor of Oyo State, who I must also commend immensely for his rapid response to the situation.
“I do not want to speculate on the numbers of lives yet, because I don’t have those numbers yet. But we do know that there are casualties.
He also commended security agencies and the National Emergency Management Agency for their quick response minutes after the explosion occurred.
He said “I want to commend the NEMA, the police, the Department of State Services and all the emergency responders that have responded to this urgent call.
“At this point, that area remains a crime scene, which means we have to work with law enforcement to preserve the integrity of that area. I was going to go there this morning, but I was advised against it because going there will also be part of the problem. We don’t want to play politics with the lives of our people,” he further said.
Buttressing Olajide point, a lawmaker from Lagos State, Ademorin Kuye, condoled with the Government and people of Oyo State over the incident.
Kuye said, “I just want to join my colleagues to commiserate with the people who have lost a lot in this act of criminality by illegal miners. And I particularly have to come because Ibadan is like my second home. I studied in Ibadan when I was in Oyo State.
“I just want to further reiterate the position of my colleague, that there is a need for fiscal federalism and that can lead us quickly to having a state police. I believe that the President campaigned based on these promises and I know that he’s going to work with the National Assembly to ensure that we have state police very soon.”