The Senate has called for the decentralisation of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) and strengthening operational strategies of community policing as a way of addressing problem of insecurity in the country.
This formed part of the recommendations of the Senate Ad-hoc committee on Nigeria security challenges which was considered and approved at plenary on Tuesday.
The upper chamber had set up an Ad-hoc committee on Nigeria security challenges on January 29, under the chairmanship of the Senate Leader, Senator Yahaya Abdullahi (APC Kebbi.)
Senate spokesperson, Senator Ajibola Basiru, said in a statement that the committee, in its report, made wide ranging recommendations which were also approved by the chamber.
According to him, Senate urged the executive to direct the Ministry of Police Affairs and the Inspector General of Police to “decentralise the police command structure with operational and budgetary powers” vested in the zonal commands.
Basiru said Senate also urged the Federal Government to set up zonal security advisory committees at each Zonal command to advise on the security challenges facing each zone.
He added that the composition of the zonal advisory council as proposed by the upper chamber include; Governors in the Zone; Zonal AIG of Police.
Others are State Commissioners of Police in the Zone; State Directors of the Department of State Security Service; Zonal Immigration Officers; Zonal Customs Officers; and Representative of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps in the Zone.
Other recommended members included: Representative of the Nigeria Correctional Service in the Zone; Chairmen of State Traditional Rulers Council in the Zone; Faith-based leaders in the zone; Civil Society Representatives in the Zone; Representative of Senators from the Zone; Representative of Members of House of Representatives from the Zone.
Representatives of Business Community and Labour in the Zone; and any Person or persons deemed to be useful and relevant, taking into account the socio-cultural peculiarities of the zone.
Recommendations were also made for the expansion of the State Security Council and constitution of Area Command, Local Government and Ward Level Advisory Councils.
The Senate, accordingly, urged the federal government to direct the Ministry of Police Affairs and the Inspector General of Police to immediately implement the Community Policing Strategy involving local stakeholders at the grassroots, and traditional rulers with a view to addressing local security challenges.
Senate also urged the state assemblies to make necessary laws to legalise community policing even at the Local Government level.
It also called on governors to fund community policing from grants appropriated to each local government.
Meanwhile, the Senate also directed its committees on Communication, Science and Technology and Health to conduct a thorough investigation to determine the status of the Fifth Generation (5G) Network in Nigeria.
The Senate resolution is sequel to a motion on the present status of 5G Network in Nigeria.
The motion was sponsored by Senator Uche Ekwunife (PDP Anambra), who in her lead debate said there were growing concerns on the on-going discussion about the current status of 5G network in Nigeria, especially in regards to the question, ‘if Nigeria is presently connected to 5G.’
She said there were further concerns by some scientists and medical experts that emission from 5G towers could adversely affect the health of citizens by causing symptoms like damage to the eyes and immune systems, among other adverse effects.
She, however, said that 5G network has also been reported to hold a lot of promises for mobile broadband services because of its faster speed and better capacity.
She expressed concern over the uncertainty surrounding whether or not the 5G network has been launched in Nigeria will continue to fuel the speculations and rumours concerning the deployment of 5G network and its faster effect on the citizen of Nigerian.
She said that several countries, including Switzerland, one of the world leaders in the roll out of 5G mobile technology has placed an indefinite moratorium on the use of 5G network because of the health concern.
She said that it was important to investigate the status of 5G network in Nigeria to ensure that Nigerian citizens are not exposed to unreasonable risk of great bodily injury or harm.
The Senate in its other resolution directed the concerned committees to also investigate the technological impact of the network on Nigerians and report back to plenary within two weeks.
