Group Lauds Neighbourhood Safety Concept

A Port Harcourt-based human rights group, Advocacy for Peace, Good Governance and Social Justice, has described the Rivers State Neighbourhood Safety Corps as a precursor to the realisation of a better policing in the state.
The president of the body, Mr John Clement who stated this in Port Harcourt on Monday during a media chat, noted that the Nigerian federation would be better off if it was well policed.
Mr Clement described law and order as basic ingredient for the success of a democratic rule.
He pointed out that no government would succeed in an atmosphere of crisis.
According to him, “Nigeria is ripe for state police. Currently, the federal police has not lived to its billing.
The recent killings by suspected herdsman have exposed the inadequacy of the federal police consequently, states must evolve ways of closing the loopholes.
Mr Clement said the Neighbour Watch would liase with the police to fight crimes in the state.
He said the vision of having state Neighbourhood Watch was well conceived as it would augment the efforts of the police.
Speaking earlier, the group secretary, Mr Chinonye Okoha, had called on the general public to complement their efforts in peace building.
He said that all must join hands to ensure that the beautiful vision of an ordered society conceived by the present administration was sustained.
Okoha noted that in true federalism, states were allowed to maintain their own police force and opined that Nigeria was too big to maintain centralised policing.
He stated over centralisation had been the bane of this country.

Chidi Enyie