Former Governor of Akwa Ibom state, who is also currently representing Akwa Ibom North-West in the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio has called for the creation of state police in the country.
The former Senate Minority Leader believes state police will be better positioned to tackle criminality in states than the centralised policing system in the country.
Akpabio made the call in a recent interview on the chances of the All Progressives Congress in Akwa Ibom.
“I have always voted for the state police, and I am always an advocate of state police. If a security man is from another state, he may not know the terrain like those who have lived all their lives in that particular environment,” he stated.
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“During the time of our fathers, they knew the bad guys in the village, so if a goat got missing in the village they knew where to check it and who to hold responsible for it.”
“There is a need to complement the efforts of the Federal Government by providing for state police. Any governors who misuse it also should be held responsible for the action. “During my growing up days, you couldn’t just acquire wealth without doing anything.
“In the United Kingdom, you see police without guns because they are the metropolitan police. There can also be National State Police Commission that will be recruited by the state but will be trained at the national level but they will be deployed in the state where they are from and they can also advance to the federal police level if need be.”
Commenting on the issue of ex-governors in the Senate receiving pensions and salaries as senators., the Senator said, “Nothing like two salaries, because we are collecting pensions as former governors and as serving senators, we must be paid our allowances. At least we must maintain our office and as former governors, we must get the pension for working as former governors.
“People don’t understand because you can only receive only one pension as a former governor, and a serving senator, you must get your allowance.”