People no longer feel safe to report criminals -Emir
Kingsley Chukwuka, Jos
The Emir of Wase in Plateau state, Mohammed Sambo Haruna, has called on the federal government to review the laws on criminality, saying that people no longer feel safe to report criminals to security agencies.
The emir said when criminals are reported to security agencies, they still find themselves back on the streets and eventually go after those who exposed them.
The royal father stated this on Thursday in Jos, the Plateau state capital while speaking at the Dialogue Reconciliation and Peace (DREP) Centre, which holds a quarterly meeting for stakeholders on peace building.
“We have a situation where someone reported a criminal to security agents, the criminal was picked up and taking to the police. After some days, he was released, ambushed and killed the person that reported him,” the emir said.
He said that bandits take advantage of the weak laws to commit heinous crimes, adding that government should review the nation’s criminal laws.
“We have to open up and tell ourselves the truth, we all know those who are perpetrating this crime, only that the public is afraid of exposing them.
“If perpetrators of crime are punished accordingly, criminality will be reduced,” he said.
On his part, the Director General, Plateau Peace Building Agency, Mr. Joseph Lengmang, said government is working in synergy with security agencies to ensure that criminals pay for their crimes.
Lengmang said government has put forward a bill that will speed up the prosecution of crisis merchants and see to it that they are tried and prosecuted in the state.
Our correspondent reports that the Dialogue Reconciliation and Peace (DREP) Centre was established about five years ago by the Catholic Archdiocese of Jos, to mitigate in the Plateau crisis through periodic meetings of all stakeholders.
