Mohammed Adamu, inspector-general
of police, says the N13.3 billion approved by the federal government for the
take-off of community policing will be spent on sensitisation, training and
purchase of equipment.
Adamu spoke during a briefing by
Mohammed Dingyadi, police affairs minister, on one year anniversary of the
re-establishment of the ministry.
The inspector-general said state
community policing advisory committees have also been inaugurated in all the
states.
He said the committees will be saddled with the responsibility of identifying able-bodied men and train them as policing officers for their respective communities.
“The money is for the
implementation of the project. It is a process. We have started it in terms of
we are going to do town hall sensitization,” Adamu said.
“We are also doing training for
community police officers. We are going to buy all the equipment that is needed
and then the process goes on this year, next year until everything is established.
“Community policing is a
strategy. It is not a new police structure that is being created but within the
police, we re-strategise and then bring in community-based initiatives.
“The idea and what we are
implementing is that the community should take responsibility for policing. The
implementation has gone far.
“So far we have inaugurated state
community policing advisory committees in all the states. And that advisory
committee comprises the community leaders, representatives of faith-based
organizations, representatives of market women, representatives of the national
union of transport workers, students etc.
“At the local government level,
we also have the same strategy represented by the same group of community
leaders. At the local government level again we have community policing
committee which will have the same people from the ward and villages.
“This committee is the one that
would help us identify within the wards and the villages their own citizens and
natives who are able-bodied. We would select them and train them as community
policing officers and send them back to their communities where they come from.
We have reached this stage already. Now we are at the stage of recruitment.”
Adamu noted that the policing
committees would also receive reports of challenges and problems of crime
within the communities through the community police officers.
“They would deliberate on these
problems and see how they can solve the problem without necessarily bringing it
to the DPO because it is a community-based initiative to deal with community
issues,” he said.
He also warned vigilante groups
against carrying prohibited firearms, saying anyone caught bearing arms without
a licence will be arrested and prosecuted.
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