The Pan Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, has expressed disappointment over the rejection of an amendment to the 1999 Constitution that would have allowed states to establish their own police force.
The National Publicity Secretary of Afenifere, Jare Ajayi, in a statement on Thursday, said the rejection of the amendment by some members of the House of Representatives Committee on Constitution Review had reinforced the notion that most of the members were not in the National Assembly to serve the best interests of majority of Nigerians.
He said the feeling across the length and breadth of Nigeria now was to take every legitimate step to combat the unprecedented security challenge facing the country.
Ajayi, however, commended Onofiok Luke from Akwa Ibom for the amendment to section 214 of the 1999 Constitution to enable States to have power to set up State Police.
The Pan Yoruba organisation also commended the 11 members of the House that voted in support of the amendment while it frowned very seriously on the 14 members who voted against the amendment.
Onofiok had sought the amendment to move section 214 (c) of the constitution from the exclusive list to the concurrent list. That will have empowered both the National Assembly and houses of assembly of states to legislate on police and other security matters.
But at the House Committee sitting on Wednesday, January 26, 14 legislators voted against the amendment while 11 lawmakers voted in favour.
Afenifere said, “As is well known, one of the best means of combating such challenges is to design measures that may be unique – from one area to another.
“The peculiar security challenge we have presently demands the formulation of local strategies to compliment that of the central government. In this particular case, state and local government police are very necessary if we truly want to overcome the challenges of insecurity especially that of banditry and terrorism.
“With the number of lives that have been lost to terrorists in the country, including lives of some lawmakers, it could not be defended at all, that the lawmakers would throw away the golden opportunity to put criminality in Nigeria in check.
“By this rejection, the impression is being created that some well-placed people are deriving pleasure from the unwarranted loss of lives, properties and territories that are now the hallmark of our daily living.
“Such people, however, needed to be reminded that terrorism, at some point, may not have respect for even those who brought it into being.”
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