Why Tinubu must probe Lagos CP Over Policing failure – TRG

A political pressure group, The Renewal Group (TRG), has called on President Bola Tinubu to constitute a panel of enquiry into the activities of Lagos State Commissioner of Police, CP Moshood Jimoh, citing what it described as a decline in policing standards in the state.

The call was made by the Convener of the group, Lai Omotola, during the organisation’s inaugural press briefing held in Maryland, Lagos on Thursday.

Addressing journalists, Omotola described TRG as “a non aligned political pressure group to use both politics and politicians as a veritable tools for transformational development,” adding that the group’s immediate focus was on policing in Lagos State.

He traced the evolution of policing in Nigeria, arguing that the institution had been weakened over time due to political and structural factors.

“The British bestowed us with a strong Police Force fashion after the British Police system. Early after our Independence Coup Plotters realised that Police couldn resist any coup hence the military began to deminish the Nigeria Police,” he said.

According to him, successive administrations failed to adequately strengthen the police, noting that even democratic governments struggled with reform efforts.

Omotola stressed the centrality of policing to national development, stating: “The first role of a Policeman is to be a peacemaker and an enforcer of the Law. There is no developed nation with an underdeveloped Police and no underdeveloped nation with a developed Police.”

He added: “The development of any nation is a direct function of Police because no nation can develop in the absence of law and order. Hence the critical Importance of Police. Policing is a noble profession and must remain so with reasons that abound.”

The TRG convener, however, blamed both political actors and internal challenges for what he termed the current state of the police.

“However the degeneration of Nigeria Police has become both self inflicted and Political. Majority of Politicians in Nigeria are not popular and are not loved by the people hence Police plays an important rule during and after election therefore it is the interest of unpopular politicians to make Nigeria Police moribund,” he said.

Focusing on Lagos, Omotola described the state as strategically important to Nigeria and Africa, stressing that its policing standards must reflect its status.

“Lagos is the commercial nerve centre of Africa… It must be a city of law and order wrapped with sanity and splendor. With a population of about N22million it deserves to be call a Nation,” he stated.

He expressed concern over what he described as a worsening security and enforcement situation in the state.

“Policing in Lagos is gradually turning into an embarrassment and a nightmare under the watch of CP Moshood Jimoh hence our letter to Mr President to set up a panel of enquiry. This is not a time for media rants. It time to establish facts and figures,” Omotola said.

Responding to critics of the group’s position, he added: “Since our letter to Mr President so some people have read our letter with unbelieve and some say they are spurious claims.We are here to give just one evidence of the several evidences.”

He cited concerns over the operations of the Lagos State Taskforce, particularly in relation to enforcement activities.

“Firstly on the recent viral video on Lagos TASKFORCE. We do not think we need the kind of enforcement that the chairman is proposing because in lagos roads we now have cameras that road is a federal road and road safety will do a better job and furthermore LASTMA will also do the job,” he said.

Omotola also criticised the agency’s performance in environmental enforcement, stating: “The primary assignment of TASKFORCE which is the environment has failed as evident in the return of monthly sanitation and demonstrated by the the governor sleeping the environment this should not be so.”

He maintained that the call for a presidential panel was necessary to establish facts and restore confidence in policing in Lagos State.