FG Fails to Implement Report of Presidential C’ttee on Police Reform

Ambode says Lagos faces complex security challenges daily

Gboyega Akinsanmi

The federal government has failed to fund the Nigeria Police in line with the report of the Presidential Committee on Police Reforms in Nigeria that recommended an estimate of N2.8 trillion be spent in a period of five years to radically transform the police, Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, disclosed yesterday.

The governor, also, disclosed that the federal government only released N10 billion in 2016 fiscal year out of N16.1 billion allocated for capital development, noting that the allocation was a huge shortfall from a sum of N560 billion, which was recommended in the report of the police reform committee.

He gave the figures at the 11th town hall meeting on security to mark the 10th anniversary of the Lagos State Security Trust Fund (LSSTF) at the State House, Alausa yesterday, acknowledging that Lagos still faced complex security challenges on a daily basis because of the massive migration to the state.

The meeting was attended by Oba of Lagos, Oba Rilwan Akiolu, President of Lagos Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Mrs. Nike Akande, Group Managing Director of Access Bank Plc, Mr. Herbert Wigwe, Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola and Lagos State Commissioner for Police, Mr. Imohimi Edgal among others.

At the meeting, the governor referred to a presentation the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Ibrahim Idris made in July 2017, stating that the Nigeria Police was allocated N 16.1 billion for capital development, though only N10 billion was released.

Ambode noted that what was eventually released to the Nigeria Police for capital development showed that the federal government did not pay attention to the recommendation of the reform committee set up by former President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua.

He noted that the committee, which was chaired by former Inspector General of Police (IG), Alhaji Muhammadu Dikko Yusuf, recommended an estimate of N2.8 trillion over a period of 5 years (i.e. N560 billion per annum) to effectively reform and transform the Nigeria Police.

The governor, therefore, said the shortfall showed the calamitous funding challenge “to provide general security for our people. As it stands, we must collectively act in our own interest to ensure that the criminals do not take over our space and we would then have to do a hundred times more to regain it.”

In order to ensure that public order is guaranteed, Ambode told all the stakeholders at the meeting that the time “to act is now, especially as we are gaining the upper hand. It may seem tough, but trust me, the alternative is devastating.”

He explained diverse intervention that the Lagos State Security Council had been providing, noting that the Council “often develop and review strategies which, with the cooperation of all security agencies, have been able to nip in the bud situations that might have had devastating consequences.”

With all the strategies and best intentions in the world, however, the governor acknowledged that the actions would not have been possible in any way without the needed resources provided through the Lagos State Security Trust Fund.

Also at the meeting, Imohimi revealed that the police had shot dead 32 armed robbers during gun-battle, arrested 299 others and lost six officers in the last 10 months.

From January to October 2017, he said 299 armed robbers were arrested while 32 robbers were killed during encounters with the police. He added that 231 vehicles were recovered in the last 10 months, while 21 armed robbery attempts were foiled. Regrettably, six police officers were shot dead in the line of duty.

He, however, noted that to ensure a low crime rate is sustained, increased police presence in all crime prone areas and other locations had been implemented, noting that the challenges being faced by the police included dearth of patrol vehicles, while many vehicles