TheCable

Abubakar Tsav, a former commissioner of police in Lagos state, says politicians are responsible for the activities of  bandits in the country.

Speaking in Makurdi, Benue state capital, on Tuesday, Tsav said most of the cases of insecurity in the country are created by politicians.

He appealed to the political class to have a change of heart and cooperate with law enforcement agencies to reduce criminality in the society.

“Banditry and insecurity are created by politicians and the politicians know who the bandits are. They know why these people are doing this, “he said.

“I want to appeal to our political class to have a change of heart and cooperate with security agencies to reduce criminality in the land.

“If the police are courageous enough to search houses and monitor activities of politicians, you will see what they will recover from them.”

Tsav said the increased level of corruption and porous borders had also contributed to the ongoing security challenge as most arms are smuggled into the country through the borders.

He advised the federal government to embark on massive employment of security personnel, saying this would mop up most of the unemployed youths from the streets and reduce criminality in the country.

According to him, security agencies, especially the police, lack the manpower to handle the incessant security breaches in the country as most of the officers in the service are currently attached to politicians.

“In the police service, for instance, we have few policemen and most of them are attached to politicians. In fact, the government should reduce salary of the legislature to fund the new intake, “Tsav said.

“It is dangerous to attach a police officer to stay with a politician for more than two years because the moment they stay long with them they become very loyal to them instead of the Nigeria police force.”