#EndSARS: APC South Africa Tasks FG, NASS On State Police

The South African Chapter of All Progressives Congress (APC), has urged the Federal Government to collaborate with National Assembly towards formulating laws that would allow for State Police in Nigeria.

The National Chairman of the group, Mr. Bola Babarinde said this in a statement on Tuesday in Lagos.

According to him, state police should be allowed for states that are able to support the establishment of such.

“The destruction of lives and property perpetrated by hoodlums at the tail-end of the protest should be an eye-opener that there is a need for formidable security architecture in Nigeria.

“The federal government should have a rethink and start to consider ways of how to ensure that governments at the state and local level are able to respond quickly and adequately to security issues in their areas of jurisdiction.

“With state and community policing, the carnage and destruction witnessed in Lagos State will have been curtailed and might not have happened in the first place.

“Security is a collective responsibility and should not just be the prerogatives of only a few among us, a nation without an organised security architecture is bound to fail,’’ he said.

Speaking on the defunct Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), Babarinde said that although it was set up to crack down on armed robbers, over time it became synonymous with harassment, intimidation, coercion, and extra-judicial killings of innocent citizens.

According to him, while there are many opinions as to the aftermath of the protest, it is important to applaud the courage of youths and other well-meaning citizens who lent their voices, and resources to call for an end to SARS.

“However, going forward it is necessary for the nation as a whole to have a deep retrospect because the abuse of power perpetrated by SARS is something which is quite endemic in our society.

“In ministries, hospitals, school administration, banks, private establishments, local, states, and federal government, we have “SARS-like” individuals who use their positions of privilege to oppress others because there is an absence of love for their fellow human beings.

“#EndSARS is a call for an end to oppression by those in power at any level. It is a call for an end to bad governance, victimisation within private and public institutions, lack of respect for one another in all facets of life and a call for an end to all forms of social evils,’’ he said.

(NAN)