Follow Us on Google
Fred Ezeh, Abuja, and David Onwuchekwa, Nnewi
The Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to declare a state of emergency to tackle insecurity, especially kidnapping, terrorism, armed robbery and banditry in the country.
Director, administration, NSCIA, Mr. Yusuf Nwoha, made the call when he spoke at a news conference on the state of the nation, in Abuja.
Nwoha said the security situation in the country requires desperate measures in the collective interest of all Nigerians.
“Let the monster of insecurity be tackled actively and proactively with the full weight of Nigeria’s security and defence capabilities,” he said.
He stressed that activities of Boko Haram insurgents were completely against the principles and teachings of Islam.
“We want to state in an unequivocal terms that Boko Haram does not represent Islam or Muslims,” he said.
The council, therefore, reiterated the need for the Federal Government to act decisively by declaring a state of emergency.
Meanwhile, former chairman of the Police Service Commission (PSC), Chief Simon Okeke, has said regional policing would go a long way in putting an end to insecurity in the country.
Okeke, speaking with journalists in his Akatar residence, Amichi, Nnewi South LGA, Anambra State, argued that the situation at hand in the country today had justified the need to adjust the security architecture to accommodate regional, state and community policing.
He noted that it was only when security arrangements were localised that hoodlums could easily be fished out.
“The South-West has come up with Amotekun. It would not be a bad idea for other regions to borrow a leaf from that. A situation where the headquarters of security agencies is situated in Abuja obviously cannot help comprehensive policing. In some cases, the commissioner of police in the state may not be an indigene with the problem of understanding the language and terrain of the people he is supposed to police,” he said.
Chief Okeke who has been advocating for State policing for two decades said the earlier the country opted for state and community policing the better for the peopl
