Popular human rights advocate, Femi Falana (SAN) has said that Nigeria would not enjoy genuine democracy until insecurity became a thing of the past.
He stated this Wednesday during a protest organised by the People’s Alternative Front at the Gani Fawehinmi Freedom Park in Lagos.
Falana appealed to the Federal Government to adequately fund the Nigeria Police Force for effective tackling of the nation’s security challenges.
He said, “Nigeria is in a crisis of terrorism, banditry and armed robbery. And unless these problems are addressed, we cannot have genuine democracy in our country.
“There is no democracy in the country and so, we are not in the position to join public offices at the stadia today to celebrate democracy.
“Section 14 of the Constitution provides that the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government.
“We want the Nigerian Police Force (NPF) to be adequately funded, equipped and motivated so that the security of our people can be guaranteed.”
Falana said that military’s involvement in routine police business of securing the country was a constitutional aberration.
“We do not want military involvement in the security of the country. Under the Constitution, the Military is to defend the territorial integrity of the country, while the Police Force is obligated to discharge internal security.
“It is part of the legacy of Military dictatorship that the government has abandoned the Nigerian Police Force and is currently using the Armed Forces to secure the country, including the management of elections,” the senior lawyer said.
He implored the Federal Government to use recovered loots to address the raging unemployment situation in the country.
“Right now, the Buhari administration claimed to have recovered over N600bn even from whistle-blowing policy alone, while EFCC and others have recovered over N700bn.
“We are asking the government to deploy the bulk of this money to take care of the youths to empower young people so that they will move away from criminality.
“You cannot talk of security, without addressing the unemployment of the youths, disenchantment of the frustration of the youth. So, beyond the architecture of security, there must also address unemployment.”