A former Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Dr. Solomon Arase, has canvassed overhaul of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) and internal security architecture to tackle insecurity in the country.
He also described as worrisome the threat posed by advancement of technology to the internal security of the nation. Arase, who delivered a keynote address at the South-South Citizen Summit for national integration, peace and security, organised by the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations in Port Harcourt, said the long intervention of the military in governance left the police underdeveloped and ill-equipped, maintaining that opening a dialogue to discuss the people’s differences and diversities would engender national integration.
Represented by AIG Patrick Dokumo, (rtd), the ex-IGP equally listed kidnapping, banditry, armed robbery, cultism, terrorism and proliferation of firearms by unauthorised persons as major security threats to national security.
“The pursuit of limited resources, power, and control has led to terrorism and insecurity across the country. Lack of religious and ideological tolerance has also led to mass killings, destruction of public properties across the country.
“The political class has also contributed in no small measures to insecurity across the country. Failure to provide employment to our teeming youths in the country, which has led many of them to take to crime.
“The possibility of national integration is not bleak. There must be open dialogue and discussion for national unity. The discussion should be targeted towards national integration, coherence and unity,” he said.
