On Community Policing
Editorial
The agitations for community policing have received the attention of the current Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu. No doubt, he is bent on making this dream realizable. In every community, efforts are in top gear to select those who the police call “constables” to help in policing Nigeria. This is coming at a time the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari has unleashed pressure on the security architecture, to save the country from crime and criminality.
Community policing entails that the business of security is to be handled by respective communities that constitute Nigeria. The officers to be selected are “supposed” to be indigenous, well mannered and must possess the cognitive and physical ability to handle the task. This is supposed to be voluntary engagement, according to Nigeria Police Force.
The Police also said existing community security platforms like vigilante will dissolve into the community policing architecture. In this arrangement, the personnel selected will have “benefits like the police.” It means finances will be involved. Although we are told the concept is work in progress.
However, the worry with the concept is that the process might be bastardized, giving our history as a people, who like doing things outside down. First, the process of recruitment must be transparent and must follow due process. By this, I mean the right people must be selected. There has been fear by some group that politicians will hijack the process and field in their cronies and thugs. When this happens, community policing will be reduced to a weapon of oppression against oppositions of state and regional governments. It will be a time bomb, if the process is hijacked, as mentioned.
Secondly, the issue of regional policing outfits should not be taking for-granted. The issue of Amotekun comes to mind. If you regionalized security, it is a disservice to the sovereignty of the country. Every region will create its security outfit and if the worse happens, these personnel will graduate to militia warlords, in pursuance of regional interest and not the national interest. Remember the agitations for Biafra and others in the pipeline.
Thirdly, the issue of funding is another key factor. Already, security experts have argued that the security system in Nigeria is underfunded. It is worrisome if personal cost increases where the issue of proper and or adequate funding is still a major problem. You do not want to engage people and disengage same on the basis that there was no fund to run. Doing so will put more criminals on the streets, more than one can imagine.
Fourthly, the people willing to become members of the community policing network must be people with the passion for sacrifice. The endeavour should not be a venture for power acquisition or riches, but one to make the society a better place. The “voluntary constables” must abide by the lines of President John F. Kennedy who in a powerful speech asserted that “think of what you can do for your country and not what your country can do for you.” It is high time we made Nigeria greater than she is.
Lastly, the issue of carrying arms is fundamental too. One is still thinking how the prospect will come out. Will the personnel be granted licenses to carry arms and ammunition in the discharge of their duty? Doing so will require a whole lot of regulations. Not doing so might not be in the “safety interest” of the personnel. The proliferation of small scale and medium scale weapons in the country is worrisome. If you send out these watchdogs without a means for defence, they will be resisted and frustrated by arms carrying militia groups and criminals.
In all these, we are on top of the game. With a very professional Inspector General and a credible workforce in place, one believes that nothing short of a credible community policing is expected. For all intents, it is right to wait and see what comes out of this. Let us not jump the gun by passing judgments before community policing is enforced. This editorial is targeted at tightening loosed ends. The policing network must conform to world best practice.
This is commendable