Mohammed Munirat Nasir, Gusau.
7500 youths in Zamfara state have been recruited to serve as Special Constables in the Community Policing initiative of the federal government.
This was disclosed by the state commissioner of Information, Alhaji Suleiman Tinau Anka while bidding farewell to the first batch of 3,850 youths recruited to serve as special Constables who are leaving for Police Training Colleges in Kaduna and Sokoto states.
The information commissioner said governor Bello Mohammed Matawalle took the decision to recruit the 7500 youths from the 14 local government areas as part of deliberate plans to curb the security challenges and reduce unemployment rate in the state.
Anka said the state government will be responsible for their upkeep and others necessities during their two months stay in the Police Training Colleges.
Earlier, the State Commissioner of Police, Barrister Usman Nagogo said the community policing concept is a citizen driven model as citizens would be in control of their security.
Nagogo explained that after their two months training the Special Constables will be sent to their communities to serve as Community Policing Officers (CPOs) to deal with and resolve low-level security issues without necessarily resorting to Police Stations.
“With the community policing, the Nigeria Police would be able concentrate on the management of violent and other highly organized crimes with a view to actively tackle them effectively,” he said.
It will be recalled that the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mohammed Adamu, had in March this year said that the recent upsurge in crimes across states of the federation and Abuja has prompted the urgent need to implement community policing.
He said recent incidents of armed banditry, kidnapping and armed robbery most especially in Kaduna, Niger, Kogi, Katsina and Zamfara States have prompted the need for the full and speedy roll-out of the Community Policing strategy across the country.