We Don’t Need Police To Vet Operatives Of Safety Corps – Wike

6 min read 1,062 words 0 views

Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike has threatened to
amend the law establishing the State Neighbourhood Safety Corps
Agency, to exclude the Police from vetting the recruited operatives
.

Wike stated this while inaugurating the Board members of the
agency, while directing them to kick-start the process of
recruiting quality operatives for the agency.

He said that the amendment of the law will take a queue from the
Lagos State Neighbourhood Safety Corps Agency, which did not need
to get police to vet members recruited operatives.

Performing the inauguration on Monday at the Government House
Port, Harcourt, Wike said there is no going back on the
establishment of the agency because it is central to the security
of the state.

He said : “Use your experiences and capabilities to ensure that
the Rivers State Neighbourhood Safety Corps Agency takes off
effectively. By September, 2018, I expect that the training of
operatives would have been concluded and the agency fully
operational”.

He charged members of the Neighbourhood Safety Corps Agency not
to be swayed by the antics of opponents of the establishment of the
agency because their duty is vital to the stability of the
state.

The governor alerted the nation that some politicians have
approached the police to sabotage the scheme by rejecting
operatives recruited by the agency.

He said that the State Executive Council would approach will
approach the Rivers State House of Assembly for the amendment of
the Neighbourhood Safety Corps Agency law, so that the Police will
not be required to vet the recruited operatives as is obtainable in
Lagos State.

The governor advised the Board of Directors of the Neighbourhood
Safety Corps Agency to recruit only persons that have the interest
of the state at heart.

He said contrary to criticisms against the Rivers State
Neighbourhood Safety Corps Agency, they are only to bear light arms
subject to the approval of the Police. He said that the light arms
to be borne by the agency’s operatives would be for
self-defence.

“The Chairman of the Board is a retired Brigadier General, while
the Director General is a retired Assistant Commissioner of Police.
We have appointed credible and experienced retired security chiefs
because we want the best for the state.

‘Now that we have prevailing peace in the state, all efforts
should be geared towards sustaining it,” he said.

Responding, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the
Neighbourhood Safety Corps Agency , Brigadier General Dick
Ironabare assured the government and people of the state that the
agency would work to enhance state-wide security.

He commended the Rivers State Governor for deeming it necessary
to set up the new security scheme, which is in line with
international best practices of securing communities.

The Chairman said that the agency would work within the ambit of
the law in the discharge of her duties. He said most of the people
opposed to the Rivers State Neighbourhood Safety Corps Agency do so
because they don’t understand its relevance in modern day security
framework.

He commended Governor Wike for the support rendered to security
agencies across the state as well as the promulgation of stringent
laws to check kidnapping and cultism.