From David Onwuchekwa, Nnewi
The former Chairman of Police Service Commission, Chief Simon Okeke, has condemned comments attributed to President Muhammadu Buhari that the Igbo are a dot in a circle and that he is ready to teach them in a language they understand.
Reacting to the comments at his Amichi country home in Nnewi South Local Government Area of Anambra State, Chief Okeke said such comments were not expected to come from the number one citizen of Nigeria who he said should take every Nigerian as his child. He described the comments as unfortunate.
‘It is painful that what we thought would have died down, the war fought over fifty years ago is still being haboured by the nation’s number one citizen. We have had Ibrahim Babangida, Sani Abacha, Olusegun Obasanjo, Musa Yar’Dua and Goodluck Jonathan as Presidents and none of them had made such statements, as if people he was talking about were not part of the country.
‘If it is possible, he should have been persuaded to apologize. What he said is a serious warning to the people he is referring to especially the youths.
‘Those he was referring to when he said shoot on sight should be on their guard. The situation is capable of causing another civil war too. Another civil war shouldn’t be allowed. Our youths should b careful,’ he warned.
The former police boss noted that the suspicion that the unknown gunmen came from outside the South East could be true to a reasonable extent. He said that was the reason Governor Hope Uzodinma of Imo State recently lamented that about 80 percent of the unknown gunmen were from other parts of the country.
He said a source revealed that there were about 325 herdsmen settlements in the South East zone ‘which goes to show there could be substantial elements of non-indigenes who might be behind the attacks.’
He said that the National Assembly must now amend the nation’s constitution to provide for a state police as a lasting solution to the security challenges bedeviling the country. He noted that it would not stop the existence of central police force for cross border needs.
He noted that it was a wrong idea for everything about police to continue to end at the table of one person in a country with a population of about 200 million people.
Chief Okeke was of the opinion that the police and army had been demoralized because of the security situation, describing the entire senario as worrisome.
He said it was unfortunate that public facilities and humans were being destroyed. He noted that it was a bottled anger that was sometimes misplaced. He, however, condemned the destructions. He said that over 90 per cent of the police stations being destroyed were built by individuals and community members who always later handed them over to the police ‘and that means someone destroying his own property.’
He regretted that the police and civilians relationship is no longer what it was during his time as a police boss. He said that the police being attacked also had their complaints, adding that they were not being taken care of ‘and that is why I have been constantly advocating state police.’