Police Plan New Law
TO check kidnapping and other related crimes, the Police High Command is planning new regulations that will ensure severe sanctions for such offences.
The plan, if it sails through, will enable the police to take on-the-spot decision and action when suspected criminals are caught.
The Guardian learnt the proposal would soon be sent to the National Assembly for action with a view to stemming the high rate of crime in the country.
Already, most members of the National Assembly had in the past few months made suggestions for a bill that if passed into law will help reduce heinous crime like kidnapping, murder and armed banditry.
The new move by the police to begin work on the proposal was propelled by the recent abduction of four journalists who were later released unconditionally.
The spate of kidnapping in the South-East, which has continued unabated, prompted the Police to begin the mass deployment of serving officers and men from that zone to other parts of the country.
“The increase in crime rate within the South Eastern part of the country is a source of concern to the country. So, it will not be surprise if the Police High Command come out with more stiffer penalty to reduce the menace,” said an officer.
Statistics have shown that no fewer than 500 suspected kidnappers and over 1000-armed robbers are currently in various police cells and prisons in the South eastern states.
The increase has promoted the police state commands to become more security conscious to avert stiffer action from the Federal Government.
The Inspector General of Police (IGP) Ogbonna Onovo, in a recent interview, said his regime would remain focussed in crime fighting with a view to actualising his three-point agenda of reducing crime to its zero level and putting the country in its right path..
The high command, in its usual security meetings, had continued to plead with the civil populace to give police more clues that will help them tackle crimes within the country as it is done in other develop nations.
Comments:
fugboma 2010-07-26 07:55
Having read the above article, I was quite shocked with the phrase ' will enable the police to take on-the spot decision and action'. I don't know about anybody else's view but in my book that is licence for the police to run amok. We are talking about a corrupt, incompetent, poorly trained, inept and un-professional police force that even with the current checks in place still manage to commit attrocities beyond comprehension. So imagine that same force with a carte blanche power to do whatever. I shudder to think what will happen next, suffice to say that many innocent Nigerians are going to suffer. I do recognise that the menace of Kidnapping and other heinous crimes need to be checked, but giving the Nigerian Police Farce, oh sorry, I mean the Nigerian Police Force such powers would undermine the rule of law and our democratic values.
ogbovodo 2010-07-26 05:07
when i read the headline of the story i was expecting you guys to lay out the details of the proposed new law or regulation or whatever you call it. And what does "will enable the police to take on the spot decision and action when suspected criminals are caught" means?. This is very troubling to any law abiding citizen because this could mean summary justice and typically it's jungle justice. So please i expect nothing less from the flagship but a full disclosure of the details of the so called new regulations the police are seeking from the legislature. Criminals need to be dealt with within the full extent of the law nothing less nothing more.
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