Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP), says the country urgently needs state police.
The former vice-president said this in a Twitter post on
Sunday while reacting to the attack on the train station in Igueben, Edo state.
Gunmen, suspected to be herdsmen, kidnapped many passengers
and left some with bullet wounds at the train station in Edo state
While condemning the attack, Atiku said he will put in place
specific initiatives if elected president in the coming election.
“The attack on a
train station in Igueben LGA of Edo state, during which armed men kidnapped an
undetermined number of people is the latest in a long condemnable line of
security breaches previously unseen in our national history,” Atiku wrote.
“The thoughts of my family and I are with the abducted and
their families as we pray for their safe return. While we pray, it is important
also to point out that this serves as the latest reminder of the urgent need to
reform our security architecture to better safeguard the lives and properties
of Nigerian citizens.
“We can do this by doing the following; amending our
constitution to allow for state and community policing as a first line of
security.
“Modify our security
apparatus to pay a greater premium to intelligence gathering and crime
prevention than our current reactive approach. It is unacceptable for
terrorists to plan attacks of this nature, mobilise arms and ammunition, secure
funding and move large numbers of people across large spaces without detection
by security agencies.”
Atiku added that there is the need to deploy technology
toward tracking terrorists and degrading their existing capacity to attack
people.
“Apply the diplomatic pressures needed to stem the free flow
of light arms and assault weapons across the West African sub-region and our
borders. By doing this, we will severely restrict the capacity for terrorists
to re-arm themselves to execute attacks,” he added.
“Greatly reducing the numbers of out-of-school children on
our streets and improving the economy to create jobs for vast numbers of
unemployed Nigerians, thereby reducing the pool from which these terrorists
recruit people for their nefarious activities.
“I firmly believe
that these actions will go a long way towards reducing incidents of insecurity
and providing the secure environment needed for economic growth.
“And I commit to implementing these initiatives if Nigerians
trust me with their mandate and elect me as their president next month.”
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