HOUSTON – Governor Godswill  Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State, has reiterated his call for state police, saying it would check rising incidents of crime in the country.

Akpabio, one of the advocates for state police said most of the crimes committed in different parts of the country could have been prevented if states were allowed to have their police.

Speaking on security in his keynote address, at a town hall meeting organised by Akwa Ibom Diaspora Network, AIDN, at the Westin Houston Memorial City, Houston, Texas, in the United States of America, USA, he said the implementation of the suggestion would deepen democracy and reduce crime rate in the country.

Akpabio told the people of Akwa Ibom state who came out en masse to receive him in pidgin English “na me be dis” in a reference to rumours that made its round back home that he had been denied access to the USA.

The governor who admitted there were security infractions in the state, noted that the situation was not peculiar to Akwa Ibom State, but all over the country, saying that the rising tides of crime had brought to the fore the need to allow state to own their police and take responsibility for such infractions.

He said: “We have security infractions in the state, but the situation is general. It is not peculiar to Akwa Ibom State. It is as a result of issues such as these that I have been in the vanguard of people advocating for state
police.”

He attributed the high rate of crime in the country to unemployment, adding: “The major cause of crime in the country is unemployment. A lot of graduates are roaming the streets for lack of employment opportunities. Each year, several graduates are pushed into the job market without corresponding job opportunities. The end result is that so many of them are jobless and an idle mind is a devil’s workshop.”

Chief Akpabio, however, assured the people of Akwa Ibom State that his administration was on top of the situation and would do everything possible to check influx of criminals into the state by partnering with security outfits both  at home and abroad.