The House of Representatives has resolved to pass a bill on State Policing as part of efforts aimed at tackling insecurity in the country.
The Chairman, House Committee on ICT, Stanley Olajide stated this at a media briefing following the unfortunate explosion that rocked the city of Ibadan, Oyo state, Southwest Nigeria.
Olajide, who is a member representing Ibadan Northwest/Southwest of Oyo State, commiserated with the Oyo State government and families of the victims of the explosion which occurred in Ibadan on Tuesday.
“Community policing is one of the smartest ways to police your people. Failure to do so will cause a situation like this. So, we are going to reopen that because remember, we’ve also been talking about State Police, we’ll be talking about Community Police too.
“Situation like this presents an urgency to the matter in getting the right support needed to pass the legislation.
“So definitely we’re going to pick this up and it is going to be at the front burner of the House once we reconvene” Olajide said.
He applauded the prompt intervention of the Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde and the first responders. He noted that efforts are ongoing to nip the situation in the bud.
“We woke up to a very horrific situation in Ibadan which happened around 8 pm last night. From information gathered so far from the office of the Governor of Oyo State, who I must also commend immensely for his rapid response to the situation, we understand that a lot of people are in the hospital receiving treatment, and the Governor has made commitments in providing first class medical treatment to the victims.
“I also want to commend the first responders, NEMA, the Police, DSS and all the emergency responders that responded to the urgent call.
“At this point, that area remains a crime scene, which means we have to work with law enforcement to preserve the integrity of that area. I was going to go there this morning, but I was advised against it because going there would jeopardise the crime scene.
“So, at this point, we’ll let the first responders and all of the security and medical agencies on rescue missions go ahead with their work. After we can go and condole with our people and offer relief materials to them”.
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Through investigation
In the bid to unravel the immediate and remote causes of the ugly incident, Olajide beckoned on the Director General of the Department of State Security to conduct a thorough investigation into the incident.
Olajide also called for the control of explosives warning that earlier reports indicated that the cause of the explosion was due to the criminal activities of illegal miners storing explosives in the area.
Other Rep members commiserated and also expressed their condolence to the state government and families of the victims.
Emmanuel Ukoh
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