22nd April, 2022
By Okafor Ofiebor/Port Harcourt
Rivers State governor and a PDP presidential aspirant, Nyesom Wike, on Thursday said if elected as President, he will take the war to bandits, saying that when they hear his name, they will run away.
He also said the establishment of a State police would be one enduring approach to addressing the festering insecurity in Nigeria.
Wike, while wooing delegates of PDP in Taraba State when he met with them in Jalingo on Thursday, dismissed the argument against the need for State Police.
“The federal government, you cannot stop this insecurity if you don’t have state police. You must have state police, there are no two ways about it. Having state police does not mean you will not have federal police. All over the federal system, even councils have their own police so that you employ people who know the environment.
“You cannot take a stranger to go to Mambila, it will take him years to understand that place. You can’t take a stranger and go to Donga or Chanchangi. So, you need people who know the environment so they will be able to take care of the place.
“If federal offences are committed, the federal police should handle them. If they are state offences, the state police should handle them. So one key thing to stop this insecurity in Nigeria is to have state police,” he said.
The Rivers State governor said those opposing state police often argue that if allowed, state governors would use it against their opponents.
“The question is, will the governors be in office permanently? So, that argument is neither here nor there. If this party called the APC government loves Nigeria and is committed to Nigeria, one project that they would have given to Nigeria is the creation of State police.”
Wike explained that the beauty of establishing a State police is to ensure that people who are indigenous in an area are engaged in policing their environment.
Wike told the delegates that he was presenting himself to them to be given the presidential ticket to fly the party’s flag in the 2023 election because he is prepared to end the many troubles facing Nigeria.
According to him, Nigeria needs a leader who is forthright, could speak the truth always and competently be the Commander-in-Chief who goes to the field where Nigerians could relate their daily experiences to him.
“The one problem that our (PDP) government, (under me if elected) must solve is to bring down the level of insecurity in this country, otherwise there is no way the economy can grow.
“When bandits hear my name, they will run because I will take the war to them. I will be the Commander-in-Chief in action.
“I’ll be commanding projects in security, agriculture and the economy together with the armed forces. I’ll be commanding every aspect of life that will make Nigerians happy. This is because I have the capacity to solve the problems of Nigeria.”
Wike lamented the incidences of the bomb blast in parts of the country and on railway tracks.
He described such incidents, including the operations of Boko Haram and bandits that have killed most Nigerians as the legacy of the APC federal government.
Similarly, the Taraba State governor, Darius Ishaku also harped on the need for the creation of state police.
He lamented the state of insecurity in Nigeria and expressed optimism that if the PDP returned to power in 2023, the party would restore the lost glory of the country.