Expert Cautions OSPAC On Responsible Operations

A Port Harcourt-based legal practitioner, Mr Osborn Gbarage, has admonished the Onelga Security and Peace Advisory Committee (OSPAC) to be informed properly rather than to be deformed.
Speaking with The Tide in Port Harcourt on Monday, Mr Gbarage warned OSPAC not to take laws into their hands as they were not established by law.
He also said that the OSPAC was created by the local government without legal backing.
According to him, the OSPAC is just like the vigilantes who secure residents and property at night.
Gbarage further said, they should not take laws into their hands by involving themselves in killing, cultic practices, just not to increase the rate of criminal activities during their working hours.
He however, stated that, there was no way the OSPAC could replace the federal officers due to the fact that they are empowered by law to protect citizens in the country whereas the law does not give OSPAC such power.
Gbarage also stressed that the federal officers needed to be fully equiped with armed weapon in tackling cultism, armed robbery and kidnapping.
“The reason why police could not tackle the problem of kidnapping and armed robbery was due to the fact that most terrorists were better equiped with suffisicated armed weapons to execute thier plan on their targetted victims,” he said.
He further advised that federal officers be trained regulaarly to be able to tackle security problems in the country.
Gbarage added that bringing OSPAC was not a retrogression rather an improvement in the security sector.