VP calls for community policing to tackle security challenges

Vice President

Osinbajo made the call at the 20th Memorial Service of the first female industrialist in Nigeria and third Iyalode of Egbaland, late (Mrs) Esther Bisoye Tejuoso.

The Memorial Service and Symposium at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL), Abeokuta, was organised by the Tejuoso Royal Family in conjunction with Development Agenda for Western Nigeria (DAWN) Commission.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that Chief (Mrs) Esther Bisoye Tejuoso, mother of a prominent Egba traditional ruler, Oba (Dr) Adedapo Tejuoso, was reportedly assassinated by 10 gunmen in her Lagos home on Sept. 19, 1996.

The Vice President recalled how the late industrialist gave him N12,000 in 1984 when his rented apartment in Lagos was gutted by fire.

He said that Nigeria, with a population of about 170 million people, could not be adequately policed from Abuja Central Command.

“State police or something like community policing is the way to go to tackle the nation’s security challenges.”

Osinbanjo revealed that while there were less than 15,000 cases of conviction in Nigeria regarding criminal offences, 2.2million convicted criminals were behind bars in the U.S.

He said that the data on convicted criminals showed that either “Nigeria has more well behaved citizens or there is something wrong with the criminal justice system in the country.”

The Vice President, however, stressed that the administration of justice in Nigeria must be properly examined and that the Police should also deploy hi-tech equipment to investigate and unravel crimes and their perpetrators.

NAN reports that dignitaries at the occasion included the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr Babachir Lawal, Gov. Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun, and the Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Ogunwusi, among others.