Nigeria Police lack capacity to fight crime, says former Governor Alao-Akala

By Chinedu Eze

Former governor of Oyo State, Mr.Adebayo Alao-Akala, has said Nigeria has an unprepared and unmotivated police force to fight the various insecurity challenges facing the nation.

He also noted that the country does not deserve the quality of its security apparatus.

Akala, who was a former police officer, spoke to newsmen at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos yesterday, saying Nigeria police lacked adequate training, protection and motivation to carry out the daunting task before them.

“A lot of things are going wrong when it comes to security in this country and the country gets the type of police it wants. The type of security we are getting now is a reflection of the society; it is what is happening within our society and it is even what is happening within our security system,” he said.

The former Governor said Nigerians need the cooperation of each citizen in order to mitigate the serious security threat haunting the nation through alertness and willingness to provide information when needed, urging Nigerians to see security as their individual responsibility.

“We should try as much as possible to be our brother’s keeper and to know that this country belongs to all of us and those people fomenting troubles should please stop; that is the only thing that can move this country forward.”

Akala said by these series of terrorism acts Nigeria has injured its image in international circles, observing that the country must have lost huge amount of money on capital flight, adding that no foreigner or foreign company can come and invest in a country that is not secure.

“We are not comporting ourselves well before the international community  and this is very important because  foreigners will not like to invest in the country where there is no adequate security and Nigeria must have lost a lot in capital flight because the country seems not to be safe. So these are some of the things I want us to guide against, may God help all of us,” he said.

THISDAY