Afenifere chieftain and Peoples Democratic Party governorship aspirant in Ekiti State, Prince Adedayo Adeyeye, has petitioned President Goodluck Jonathan, the National Assembly, the Inspector General of Police and others over the establishment of state police in Ekiti State under the guise of Peace Corps.
Adeyeye said in the petition, titled: “Establishment of state police in Ekiti State under the guise of peace corps”, and dated October 20, 2013: “Apart from the illegality of the establishment of the Peace Corps, its composition is a clear demonstration of the sinister purpose it was set up to serve, which is political.”
In the petition, which was signed by the Director General of Prince Adedayo Adeyeye Movement, Hon. Bisi Kolawole, the governorship aspirant noted that the establishment of the Peace Corps was in contravention of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which placed security matters in the exclusive list, which only the National Assembly is empowered to legislate on.
Adeyeye complained further that while inaugurating the Peace Corps, the state Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, said among other things that the illegal security outfit, headed by a retired Army Colonel, Tunde Oluwayose, “is empowered to arrest and detain people for not more than two hours within which the arrested person(s) must be turned in to the Police. This simply implies that the Security Organisation will maintain detention camps across the state”.
The petition reads in part: “Section 214 of the Constitution provides that the Nigerian Police Force shall be under the full and exclusive control of the federal government.
“Section 215 further establishes that the Police Force is owned and controlled exclusively by the federal government and that the authority and powers of the force extends to the whole country. This is also contained under Item 45 of the exclusive Legislative List in Part 1 of the Second Schedule of the 1999 Constitution.
“Section 4 (5) provides that: ‘If any Law enacted by the House of Assembly of a State is inconsistent with any law validly made by the National Assembly, the law made by the National Assembly shall prevail, and that other Law shall, to the extent of the inconsistency, be void.’
“Apart from the illegality of the establishment of the Peace Corps, its composition is a clear demonstration of the sinister purpose it was set up to serve, which is political. It will interest you Sir that the Peace Corps is made up mostly of known and confirmed political thugs of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State.
“Secondly, the uniform provided for the Peace Corps members by the Ekiti State Government is the almost same as that of the Nigeria Police Force. It is similar in shape, colour and design and anyone wearing it can be mistaking for an officer of the Nigeria Police Force.
“Also, members of the Corps were only trained at the Technical School, Ado-Ekiti for three days, and we wonder how competent they are in security matters, having received just three days training.
“Most importantly, in contravention of Item 2 of the Exclusive List in Part 1 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), arrangements are on to procure arms and ammunition for the illegal security outfit headed by a Retired Army Colonel, Tunde Oluwayose.
“Sir, it is our strong belief that the Peace Corps, which is indirectly a State Police was set up to intimidate perceived political opponents of the Fayemi-led Government in Ekiti State.
“Our fear is further heightened by the closeness of the next governorship election in the State and Governor Fayemi’s resolve to deploy various unorthodox means to achieving his second term ambition.
“Kindly recollect Sir that in recent times, political opponents of the Fayemi-led government had been faced with incessant harassment, intimidation and even orchestrated arrests by policemen in the State Government House. Our campaign billboards have been vandalised on several occasions by the government thugs, who have now been conferred with authority to carry out their nefarious activities under the guise of a Peace Corps.
“Also, members of APC, who are opposed to the government, have not been spared by agents of the Ekiti State Government, who in most cases act in concert with policemen posted to the Government House. Of recent, supporters of an APC member in the House of Representatives, Hon. Michael Opeyemi Bamidele were attacked and brutalised by gun-wielding thugs, who blocked major roads in Ado-Ekiti, the State capital to prevent the launching of the Ekiti Bibiire Coalition.
“Till today, none of those thugs have been arrested. Rather, it was sympathisers of the Ekiti Bibiire Coalition that were arrested, detained and charged to court by the police.
“Sir, we wish to say once again that it is brazenly illegal and a threat to National Security to clothe any outfit of any nomenclature in the official colours of the Nigeria Police Force; and with similar functions.
“This we believe is a serious breach of National Security, deserving of your prompt intervention.
“Most importantly that peace in Ekiti State is already being further threatened with residents threatening to resist any form of arrest, harassment and intimidation by the “Peace Corps.”
“Therefore, we respectfully implore you to use your good offices to call the Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi to order before he foists anarchy on the State.”
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