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Akwa Ibom Police Commissioner wants a rethink of the call for State Police

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The Commissioner of Police in Akwa Ibom State, Adeyemi Ogunjemilusi, has advised Nigerians to reconsider their agitation for State Police, saying that the best option for the country is to equip the existing Police to function effectively.

Ogunjemilusi, who stated this during a live interview with Inspiration 105.9 FM, Uyo, said it is very expensive to maintain the Police.

“Have we been able to service what we have? Have we been able to equip the Nigeria Police? Security generally is very expensive. I wish that government would accede to the states creating their own Police. But I can assure you that within the next two years some of the states would come back and hand over the Police back to the Federal Government.

“In Canada, many of the states have handed over their Police back to the Federal Government because of funding. It is so expensive.”

The Police Commissioner said from his experience in Bayelsa state where he served previously it was expensive to get the Police, for instance, to patrol the waters.

“When I got to Bayelsa state, we were to go on patrol of some critical areas. We had to move in two boats. One of the boats was bullet-proof and very big. The second one was a normal boat. I got a bill of N1.6 million for fueling. I was embarrassed because that was the first posting to a riverine area. Actually, the governor mandated me to do that. I was so scared to go and present it to the governor because I didn’t know anything about boat and I thought my marine officer was trying to cheat me. So, I cut the bill to N1.2 million,” he said in the interview.

“Policing is not as cheap as people think. When you look at power supply, for instance, you need generators in all the stations. You need communications. And also for every investigation, you need allowance.”