By Lukman Olabiyi
The Federal Government has been urged to double its effort on community policing, in order to check ugly trend of insecurity ravaging the country.
The founder, African Youths Initiative on Crime Prevention (AYICRIP), Ambassador Christogonus C. Ibe, who made the plea, said the government at all levels should consider preventive policing as a panacea to security challenges in the country.
Ibe gave the advice at the flag-off of a workshop on preventive policing and citizen’s partnership project organised by AYICRIP for the personnel of the Nigeria Police in Lagos.
Analysing different issues contributing to crime rate across the country, alongside other security experts within and outside the country, Ibe said, “there is an urgent need to rebuild trust between the Nigeria Police and citizens, considering that no police formation across the world can effectively combat crime without effective collaboration of her citizens, especially the youths who constitute the larger percentage of the population.
“There is also a need to develop the capacities of police officers and community stakeholders for sustainable preventive policing and public safety.”
In seeking support of the government and the corporate organisations on the project, he said that the objective of the project is to train 5,550 selected police officers across the 37 police commands of Nigeria, starting with Zone 2 Police Zonal Command (Lagos and Ogun states police commands) on preventive policing and citizen’s partnership with the hope of closing the trust deficit and building confidence between the police and the citizens.