With the debate over the need for
state police still raging, Inspector General of Police, Mr. Solomon Arase has
lamented the inadequate number of police to provide adequate security for the
country, and urged the various state Police Commands to embark on and
strengthen community policing in their respective states to curb criminality in
the country.
This call is coming in the wake of
increase in incidents of insecurity in the country, and brings to the fore the
frequent debate over the level of adequacy and competence of the Nigeria Police
to stand up to their statutory responsibilities and confront these challenges.
The never-ending evil activities the
country is presently embroiled under Boko Haram, the increasing rate of
kidnapping and armed robbery, alarming social vices among other criminal
activities all appear to overwhelm the nation’s security agencies, including
the Nigeria Police, which by many indices have not been able to live up to
their billing.
These, no doubt, were factors which
apparently spurred Arase to make his call for the strengthening of community
policing. Policeman get sets to quell protect of students of Olabisi Onabanjo
University Ago-Iwoye in Abeokuta Policemen Community policing, it will be
relevant to note, is anchored on a systematic relationship between the police
and the entire citizenry, whereby police roles and functions are not simply law
enforcement but also include tackling a huge range of community problems, with
the assistance and cooperation of community security outfits like vigilantes.
Arase’s call for more community
policing, although a welcome idea in Nigeria, was an indication of the
inadequacies of those entrusted with the security of lives and property in
Nigeria for which the police are in the vanguard. His call should raise concern
for the Federal Government especially as the old debate over state police
rages. It regularly attracts condemnation by those who consider state police as
a policy that will weaken the central government and strengthen the powers of state
governments, therefore posing challenges of the continued unity of the country
with renewed threats of secession from some agitators in the South-East.
Arase who was in Minna, the Niger
State capital yesterday, in continuation of his nationwide tour of Police
Commands told a large audience of security stakeholders in the state that there
was the need for every Nigerian community to rise to the challenges of
insecurity in the country by laying emphasis more on community policing. The
IGP however added that the directive was not applicable to politicians holding
top government offices like the Senate President, House Speaker among others.
He disclosed that there were less
than 8000 police to provide security for the entire people of Niger state,
adding that from the land mass and population of the state, the police were
grossly inadequate to man the state effectively but assured that even at this,
the police would rise to the challenges. The Inspector General said the
inadequacies could be attributed to lack of recruitment into the Force in the
past five years but which he said was being seriously looked into by the
Mohammadu Buhari administration. Arase said he had given a directive that
policemen on postings as orderlies to individuals including politicians be
withdrawn immediately and redeployed to other more sensitive posts in order to
provide the needed security across the country.
Source: Vanguard
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