NAN-H-54
Law
By Lucy Nwachukwu
Abuja, Jan. 15, 2017 (NAN) Dr Dakuku Peterside, Director-General, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety agency (NIMASA) has urged law enforcement agencies to live up to their responsibilities to reduce the rate of crime in the country.
Peterside, who made the call at a News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) Forum in Abuja, said doing so would deter people from engaging in crime.
Commenting on the recent parliamentary re-run elections in Rivers, he cited the case of six policemen who allegedly conducted themselves in manner that was unacceptable and were dismissed
Cue in audio (Peterside on law enforcement)
“It is a three way thing, the most important one is that let the law enforcement agencies be alive to their responsibilities.
“Crime thrives where people know they can do things and get away with it and will not be caught by the law.
“If people know that whenever they commit crime, they will be caught by the law and they will be made to face the law, there will be a disincentive to commit crime and it is beginning to play out.
“Six police men conducted themselves in a manner that is unacceptable, not in-line with provisions of the Force Act and they have been dismissed from service.
“I think that will deter other policemen who act as accessories to crime from doing so.’’
Cue out audio
Peterside said the state government also had a role to play in ensuring that people in politics conducted themselves in an acceptable manner.
According to him, if any state government by its conduct shows that it tolerates crime, it supports crime, it encourages crime, it promotes crime, then crime will thrive on such a soil.
He explained that if a state governor and the government conducted themselves in such a way that it showed that they had zero tolerance for crime, nobody would commit crime.
Peterside further said that another reason people engaged in crime was because of the benefits which other people got when they committed crimes.
“Now when people benefit from crime and earn political offices, earn victory they do not deserve, then other people will believe that is the right route to pass.
“If you go and kill several persons and you are made commissioner, you are made governor, you are made senator, it is incentive for more persons to get involved in crime and political violence.
“But if you are denied that opportunity on the grounds of political violence, then fewer persons will have it as incentive; it will rather be a disincentive for people.
“So ultimately, government must play a role at all levels whether at the local level, at the state level, at the federal level; all of us must play a role,’’ he said.
The NIMASA boss said that the political gladiators and political leaders themselves also owed a duty to their followers to act right.
“Their body language, the way they conduct themselves, the way they make speeches influence what they do.
“And so if those of us who are political leaders conduct ourselves in a decent manner, with decorum, then our followers will fall in line. (NAN)
LCN/YEE/IA
Edited by Emmanuel Yashim/Idris Abdulrahman
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