Acting president Yemi Osinbajo yesterday revealed the federal government’s intention to develop a new policy on community policing.
He said the policy, which will be introduced soon, will help address the issue of manpower in the Force and also address security challenges.
He gave the hint in Abuja at the launch of a book titled, ‘Law on Prevention and Detection of Crimes by the Police in Nigeria’ authored by the former Inspector General of Police, Solomon Arase.
Osinbajo who was represented by the special adviser on political matters to the president, SenatorBabafemi Ojudu, said, “There is no way we can continue with the way we are policing now and the federal government is looking carefully at the issue of community policing and very soon, we will come out with a policy on that.
“We have to look at other parts of the world when we are doing it. Sitting down in Abuja by an IGP and policing the remote parts of the country and being in charge of the welfare of all the policemen across the length and breadth of the country doesn’t seem to be working”.
Also speaking at the function, the chairman of the occasion and former governor of Cross Rivers State, Donald Duke, lent his voice to the establishment of state policing.
He noted that the decentralization of policing is the greatest prevention to crime and allows for better monitoring and intelligence gathering.
Hinting that Nigeria needs 1.8million policemen for proper policing, he said, “I must say that I disagree with the author’s position that state policing, though theoretically ideal, will be abused and that states indeed are too financially handicapped from embarking on this. I posit instead that we must always strive for the ideal without losing sight of reality, this reality being that we are severely under-policed.
“Our population may be approaching 200 million by 2020. The United Nations’ ideal statistics for police civil populace ratio is 1/100. In other words, at 180 million persons, we are in need of a 1.8 million police force”.
Also speaking, the author of the book, Arase said the law enforcement role of the police can only be attained if officers have proper knowledge of what law enforcement entails.
He said 21st century policing architecture of Nigeria ought to deviate from the state of affairs and evolve into a knowledge-driven system that is befitting of the country’s democratic values.
Meanwhile, a book, ‘Nigeria: The Restructuring Controversy’, authored by Dr Mike Mbama Okiro, chairman of Police Service Commission and retired Inspector General of Police, will join the fray tomorrow as the nation grapples with the search for a new political order.
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