Bakare Calls For Disbandment Of Police Force

Presiding Pastor of the Latter Rain Assembly, Tunde Bakare, yesterday called for prioritization of security of the governed above that of the government. He therefore advocated for the establishment of state and community police forces as well as the creation of zonal security councils, adding that the Nigeria Police Force should be transformed into a National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) with focus on investigative policing, intelligence gathering, as well as interstate, inter-zonal and national security. Bakare stated this in his state of the nation broadcast titled, “Resetting the nation on the path of predictable progress” to commemorate the 59th Independence Day anniversary. He lamented that the country was confronted with security threats which manifest in political, economic, ideological, ethnic, zonal, state and strategic dimensions and stressed the need for an integrated national security roadmap to curb the threats. He said it is time Nigeria embraced “multi-level policing” in the spirit of national security. According to him, the Zonal Police Forces to be created across the six geopolitical zones would handle the security challenges that are peculiar to the regions. He said the security challenges in the country have been worsened by the “comparatively weak intelligence system”, adding, “our foreign intelligence service has proved inadequate in meeting our strategic security threats.” He however tasked the President to take responsibility for “combating the political threats by modelling statesmanship and exemplary politics as the father of the nation” even as he prayed for the success of the President, saying, “President Buhari will not fail.” He said, “By such exemplary leadership, the president must bring the political elite to the roundtable of brotherhood and compel them by astute politics and the force of leadership to put an end to the politics of banditry and to work for, rather than against, the interest of the nation.” Bakare also warned against whittling down the power of the Vice-President, saying any government that fails to maximise the Office of the Vice President “does so at its peril.” He said, “By the provisions of section 18(a) and section 25(b) of the Third Schedule, Part 1 of the 1999 Constitution as amended, the vice president is the chairman of the National Economic Council and the deputy chairman of the National Security Council”.