Bamigbola Gbolagunte, Akure
A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Armstrong Tope Akintunde, has called on the Federal Government to listen to the youths protesting police brutality and other abuses in the country.
He said the nationwide #EndSARS protests provide the Federal Government with an opportunity to put an end to bad governance, corruption and other vices in the country.
Akintunde, who is the Chief Executive Officer of Aerofield Homes, said it is high time that government begins to take the empowerment and welfare of Nigerian youths seriously, saying that no country can abandon the development of its youths and not suffer grave consequences.
The real estate merchant declared that the failure of successive governments to see youths as major stakeholders in governance was part of the factors that have made the police to maltreat Nigerians.
‘I stand with the youths on this march against impunity, recklessness, abuse of power, extortion and extrajudicial killings among other acts of illegality having free reign in Nigeria Police. It is sad that the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) unit of the Police is notorious for this and the Nigerian youths have always been at the receiving end. This is condemnable and must stop forthwith,’ the APC stalwart said.
He called on the government not only to disband SARS but to commence a comprehensive reform of the Nigeria Police Force so that it can be service-oriented and operate according to international best practices.
Akintunde said the Federal Government should use the occasion of the ongoing mass protests to fight bad governance, unemployment, corruption and begin to consider integrating the youths into governance.
He said that sincere efforts such as these would help a lot to heal the wounds inflicted on the young Nigerians and calm frayed nerves.