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The National Association of Seadogs, NAS, has called on the to as a matter of urgency, amend the constitution to give effective powers to governors in discharging their functions as the Chief Security Officers of their various states.
NAS is also known as Pyrates Confraternity made the call in a statement issued by its President, Mr. Abiola Owoaje which was made available to journalists in Abuja while reacting to the recent kidnap and killing of three students of Greenfield University and those of Federal College of Forestry Mechanization, both in Kaduna.
He said, “As previously recommended by our organisation the constitution should be urgently amended by the National Assembly to give effective powers to governors in discharging their functions as the Chief Security Officers of their various states.
“The obvious pragmatic advantages of community policing, particularly in ensuring that ungoverned spaces do not become vulnerable to bandits would thus be complemented by democratic accountability and direct community feedback.
“The idea of a centralised police structure from Abuja is no longer tenable against the background of mounting security challenges in various states of the federation.”
NAS challenged the Federal Government to ensure the rescue of the remaining kidnapped students of Greenfield University and those of Federal College of Forestry Mechanization, both in Kaduna.
He said, “The rescue and safe return of the students to their families would reassure Nigerians that there is a government in Nigeria.
The statement titled, “The Mindless Killing of Greenfield University Students”, described the murder of the students as a direct failure of the government to secure their lives in the first place and to rescue them after being kidnapped.
According to him, “It is disappointing how under the watch of President Muhammadu Buhari, a former General in the Nigerian Army, terrorists, bandits, and kidnappers have turned the security agencies and political structure, including the Presidency, into ineffective and reactive lame ducks.
“The murder of these students demands a decisive immediate response to indicate we still have a government in Nigeria. The Federal and Kaduna State Governments have a responsibility to Nigerians, especially the parents of the remaining kidnapped students of Greenfield University and those of the Federal College of Forestry Mechanization, Afaka also in Kaduna, earlier kidnapped in March, to ensure their prompt rescue and safe return to their families. It is crucial that the government unleash every legitimate force it can muster to apprehend and prosecute these criminal elements for murder.
“The lethargic responses to these rampaging bandits appear to have emboldened them and the government must now act resolutely to prevent Nigeria from becoming an ungoverned space and a failed state.
“To this end, the federal government must be courageous enough to admit it has been overwhelmed and seek regional, continental and international help to end the unbridled acts of banditry and kidnapping of school children in northern Nigeria.
Owoaje urged stakeholders to support Safe School Fund, SSF, muted by Governors Kayode Fayemi and Aminu Tambuwal, of Ekiti and the Sokoto States respectively, in bandit-prone states and the overall implementation of the National Framework for Safe Schools Initiative.
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