I-GP Adamu and the Community Policing Gravitation
Ibadan, Oyo’s capital city assumed a critical position last Monday with consideration of security concerns in the South West geopolitical zone. The city played host to governors, traditional rulers, religious leaders and concerned stakeholders attending the South West Geopolitical zone security summit convened by Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu. Insecurity in the South West, like every other zone, is a potpourri of peculiar challenges and threats to peace. That there are common grounds where these threats intersect across the six geopolitical zones is undisputable. I-GP Adamu’s Community Policing plans captured the threats as he spoke at the summit.
Fetching from the gains of Community Policing in the North West where insurgency and banditry are security concerns, the police chief narrated the genesis of the strategy at the Ibadan Summit: “This meeting is being convened within the context of our Community Policing Vision which emphasizes citizens’ engagement in the process of identifying, dissecting and prioritizing threats to communal values, partnering to develop strategies to address the threats, and building trust to undertake actions directed at mitigating them. This is the second in the series of the geopolitical security Summits being facilitated by the Nigeria Police. The first was held with the Executive Governors and strategic stakeholders in the North West geopolitical Zone on 1st August, 2019 in Katsina. Similar engagement will be held in the other remaining geopolitical Zones subsequently.”
A comprehensive list of security threats in the South West will give prominence to kidnapping and armed banditry. Cultism, armed robbery and illegal arms trade will follow in no particular order. The killing of Ms. Olufunke Olakunri, daughter of Afenifere leader, Pa Reuben Fasoranti by suspected herders in July strikes a chord with chroniclers of issues and events bordering on security. Forests and bushes in the South West are the offices of kidnappers oiling their machineries with ransoms. On August 1, herdsmen abducted five pastors of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, on their way to the church’s headquarters in Ogun. Freedom came 48 hours after. Highways of the North West also carry with them the fear of death and abduction. It is not any different in the South East. Clergy men are killed at will by herders and no one dares to question them.
In the oil-rich South South, cult wars sponsored by politicians tear communities apart and instil fear in the hearts of citizens. The North Central has herders-farmers’ clashes and communal clashes on its tables to clear. The North East is the hotbed of insurgency which has displaced two million citizens since 2009 when it first reared its ugly head. And the Nigerian Army has been engaged to perform police duties. In the process, the Nigeria Police Force loses grips on influence. When you place the dynamics of insecurity in the country and the quest of the Nigeria Police Force to assume its rightful position, you will get hold of the Community Policing plans for the South West put forward by IG-P Adamu.
The police boss mentioned something about the gains of community policing and how it is a prerequisite for taking on the dynamics of crimes in each of the six geo-political zones at the summit. According to Adamu, the South West also ranked lowest among the six geo-political zones of the country. Armed robbery, kidnapping, cultism and illegal arms trade featured as crimes unsettling the zones. But I am more concerned with what the police formation should do to attain the right level of trust in the face of positioning the initiative to achieve “enhanced trust” and make people see the police as “their police”.
Stumbling blocks on the path to a comprehensive community policing mechanism include highhandedness and professionalism. Citizens will not repose trust (emphasis on trust) in a police force that publicly declares ‘hate’ for fair trial and encroaches on constitutionally-backed rights. It is in carving a base from being socially responsible that the Nigeria Police can become the people’s police.
Adamu’s Community Policy Vision is not lacking in operational capacity. The Safer Highway Motorised Patrol and the Safer City Schemes, both components of the Community Policing Plan for the South West have been bolstered with donation of vehicles and gadgets by the governors. Security Trust Funds have been constituted to this effect. But there is an imminent challenge: matching aspiration with operational capacity for the success of the vision. When a consensus is achieved with this, intelligence gathering and deployment of technology for crime-fighting will be handled properly.
When the South West governors met in June for a similar summit — Stakeholders’ Security Summit — they took a pledge to tackle insecurity head-on for the good of the region. At the summit organized by Development Agenda for Western Nigeria (DAWN) Commission, an organ of the six South West states established to pursue socio-economic integration, the governors jointly proposed the Western Nigeria Security Network (WNSV). The Nigeria Police Force should partner with the network. Making sacrifices to crush insecurity made the rounds too. Chairman of the Western Nigeria Governors Forum, Rotimi Akeredolu boldly expressed that no sacrifice was too much for the governors to make to protect their people. The Force must be willing to ‘sacrifice their excesses’ to get the best from the gravitation towards Community Policing, which in my view is an offshoot of State Police.
With more summits expected to happen in the remaining zones, the I-GP’s planned recruitment and deployment of 40,000 police officers in the 774 local government areas of the country must be handled with the best form of professionalism it can get. This is not the time for the I-GP to sideline the Police Service Commission to handle such recruitment. The exercise should take on a thorough and broader perspective for the best hands to be engaged.
I-GP Adamu’s speech at the summit captures how Community Policing will drive law enforcement: “When fully implemented, the Community Policing Strategy will bridge the gap between the Police and the citizens in a manner that will enhance optimal, cost-effective, and sustainable law enforcement service delivery by the Police.” To this, I add that the police formation should strengthen relationships, work assiduously to filter infiltrations and rise up to the challenge of assuming the lofty position of being a force that can be trusted and entrusted solely with internal security.
Flawed Judgment
Following renewed xenophobic attacks on foreigners, including Nigerians in South Africa, apoplectic citizens took their displeasure to the streets, attacking South African businesses ‘in retaliation.’ Apparently, protesters culpable of attacking and looting MTN, Shoprite and PEP outlets in Lagos, Ibadan and Uyo last Tuesday based their judgment on fake videos, shared freely on social media, on the situation of things in South Africa. The protesters failed to connect with the fact that the affected businesses are franchises and that Nigerians form the mass of employees at the establishments. With the storms yet to settle in the rainbow nation, violence should not be adopted as a measure to crush injustice on Nigerians anywhere. Ridiculous.
The 100 Days Challenge
September 6 underlined the first set of 100 days in office for 29 state governors who recently took oaths of office and allegiance to administer and provide leadership in their provinces. Of the 29 governors, 11 of them — Lagos, Bauchi, Sokoto, Kaduna, Borno, Benue, Oyo, Imo, Delta, Akwa Ibom and Ebonyi — have formed cabinets to drive and execute policies and programmes. In the days after May 29 when they were sworn in, we have seen significant milestones in infrastructure, education and health in some states. The reverse is playing out elsewhere with incumbents investing energies on ‘cleaning the mess’ left behind by their predecessors. Coming to terms with promises made to the people together with strategic direction will aid the governors in making the most of the days ahead. Focus.
