Aregbesola: We must resist seeing crime in relation to an ethnic group

Rauf Aregbesola, minister of interior, has urged Nigerians to avoid the ethnic profiling of criminals.

Aregbesola gave the advice on Friday when he received a delegation from the executive intelligence management course (EIMC) 14 of the National Institute for Security Studies (NISS).

The minister said the morality of the African race and Nigeria, in particular, abhors all forms of criminality.

He called on Nigerians to collectively condemn crime irrespective of the identity of the perpetrator.

“One thing we must all resist is the tendency of seeing crime in relation to one ethnic group or another, a criminal is a criminal no matter the ethnic group he or she belongs to,” Aregbesola said.

“No ethnic group in Nigeria glorifies crime and criminality, so let us all condemn crime. Our morality itself makes crime an unpopular vocation.”

The minister said every Nigerian has a role to play towards the development of the country. He called on philanthropists to join hands with the government to empower the less privileged in the society so as to help reduce the rate of poverty.

He urged the NISS, as a security training institution, to see the need to develop a policy analysis that will ensure adequate reorientation of how an average Nigerian perceives criminals.

Femi Falana, human rights lawyer, and Balarabe Musa, former governor of Kaduna, have also warned against the ethnic profiling of criminals, saying it may lead to a complete state of anarchy in the country.