Former Director of Doctrine and Training in the Nigerian Army, General Isola Williams, has blamed the confusion between the police and army in securing the country as the fault of President Muhammadu Buhari whom he said wanted the clash to continue for unknown reasons.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with Newdawnngr,the retired military general said the recent killings of senior police intelligence officers by the soldiers is needless if there is no clash of interest between the two outfits leading to the unfortunate incident.
Said he, “There is no need for military to be at the check point. He should have allowed the mobile police who are specially trained to do the job adding ” he should have allowed the police to do their job since the army are not trained to do the job but they are trained to fight Book Haram and not to fight bandits.”
He said that until the security architecture of the country is overhauled, there will be anarchy as the recent clash between the police and military will continue.
“The army is not trained to curb violence but to manage it adding that the army should be left solely to curbing insurgency like Boko Haram and wars”.
General Williams, however, called on state governors to set up state police and community policing in order to properly secure lives and properties of their areas.
He disagree with the South West and other regional governors planning regional police adding that it is the job of the Inspector General to manage both state police and neighbourhood police adding that what the military is doing on the highway now should be left to the mobile police to handle while the Criminal Intelligence Department should aid the state and communal police in carrying out investigations if the crisis in any state is beyond the state and communal police. In order to achieve this, he called on the national Assembly to amend the constitution to clearly spell out the roles of the security services like,state police,communal police and federal police and the intelligent services to avoid clash of interests which the nation is experiencing now. As for him,the mobile police who he said have also abused their positions are not needed in urban areas of the country but on the highways.
