Senator Adams Oshiomhole has faulted the Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Disu, for appearing apologetic regarding the shooting of criminals, insisting that security operatives should shoot armed criminals on sight without hesitation.
Speaking on Monday during an interview on TVC News, the Edo North lawmaker criticized the police chief over recent clarifications regarding Force Order 237, which governs the legal deployment of firearms. Oshiomhole stated, “That’s why when this IG was saying he didn’t say “shoot at sight,” Why is he apologetic? Shoot at sight. If you see a criminal, shoot on sight,”.
Oshiomhole also commended the Department of State Services for appealing a court judgment that handed life imprisonment to convicted offenders instead of death sentences. He noted, “I have said that judges should implement the law, not their personal sentiment. I’m also happy that the DSS is doing its job. They have appealed the judgment where people who should have been condemned to death were given life imprisonment,”.
Addressing the biggest political risk facing President Bola Tinubu ahead of the next election, Oshiomhole identified insecurity as the primary obstacle to the re-election bid of the President. He urged Tinubu to give service chiefs a firm deadline to eliminate insecurity within a few months, stating, “There has to be a benchmark to measure what we give them and the results that we get, and whether it’s commensurate. It is better he beats down their necks than anything else,”. He added that while Tinubu had established necessary macroeconomic tools, Nigerians require consistent and deliberate security efforts.
The former Edo State governor highlighted ongoing security initiatives, including the recruitment of 20,000 additional personnel into the armed forces and the creation of new army divisions, as evidence of the resolve of the administration to reshape the national security architecture.
Dismissing claims that the President has not been visible enough in office, Oshiomhole noted that Tinubu regularly addresses forums, presides over meetings, and comments on the political economy. On the role of the opposition, Oshiomhole remarked, “There is nothing the president is going to say that the opposition will not fault. That is the legitimate business of the opposition. I don’t grudge them, provided they understand that if they cast a stone, we have a right to return that stone. So, the day the opposition joins in praising the president, then that is the end of democracy,”.
He added, “Democracy thrives on debate, on contestation. And it is legitimate for actors to try to confuse the voters. But I think the voters are wiser. They will vote rationally,”. Oshiomhole attributed the emergence of Peter Obi as a political force during the last election cycle to voter anger arising from the tenure of the late former President Muhammadu Buhari, stating, “Last time they voted in anger. That is why I brought up the issue of the former president. I’m not blaming him, he’s no more. May his soul rest in peace. But that situation is what produced Obi,”.
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