Yoruba social-political group, Afenifere Renewal Group has called on President Bola Tinubu to, as a matter of urgency, decentralise the Police.
Afenifere, in a statement issued Friday by its National Secretary, Jare Ajayi, said that the two albatrosses of insecurity that is daily ravaging the country and corruption that is thwarting the efforts at developing the country and enhancing the welfare of Nigerians.
The group said at the moment, the greatest hindrance to achieving Tinubu’s lofty aim for Nigeria is insecurity.
It said reports afield now have it that eight youth corpers from Akwa Ibom State were kidnapped in Zamfara in August this year while the kidnappers are asking for N4 million ransom on one of them.
It added that his week, 19 people were reported kidnapped in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja on Thursday; while Ondo, Ekiti and Ogun States in the South West of the country also have bitter stories to tell in this respect.
It said for instance, in Ekiti, a series of kidnappings took place in Ikole Local Government area, where four persons were kidnapped and a person killed by kidnappers, saying this happened towards the end of August and early September this year.
The group recalled that Save the Children International (SCI) in a report observed that nearly 2,000 school children have been kidnapped in Nigeria since the abduction of 276 students from Chibok, Borno State in 2014 thus putting the education of our youths in greater danger.
It noted that both the security agencies and the populace have roles to play in putting an end to the menace or at least reduce it considerably.
It stated: “As a matter of urgency, decentralise the Police so that each state and local government areas in the country would have police made up largely of indigenes of the respective areas.
“The federal government must equip the security agencies and motivate them more. Modern technological devices must be deployed in various parts of the country to detect, apprehend and prevent banditry and criminality.
“Communities must realize that banditry will continue as long as they hide bandits in their midst. They must report them and co-operate with security agencies to rid the society of criminality.”
Afenifere emphasised that former President Muhammadu Buhari vowed to take 100 million Nigerians out of poverty, while the National Bureau for Statistics (NBS) also stated last year that about 133 million persons were suffering from Multi-dimensional poverty, saying this was an admission that well over 50 per cent of Nigerians are suffering various forms of deprivations.
It noted: “The removal of petroleum subsidy and decreasing value of the naira have worsened the situation. For survival, people experiencing deprivations may turn to various forms of criminality, the type we are witnessing presently.
It said that conscious, consistent and sincere efforts be made at dealing with youth unemployment and decaying infrastructure