Oluseyi Dasilva
The Inspector General of Police, Abubakar Mohammed Adamu has inaugurated the state Community Policing Advisory Committee (CPAC) to kick start the security initiative in the Kwara State.
Inaugurating the committee at the headquarters of the kwara state police command, Ilorin on Tuesday, IGP Adamu, who was ably represented by Yunana Babas, Assistant Inspector General of Police in charge of Zone 8, restated his commitment to making Kwara inhabitable for criminal elements.
In his welcome address, Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq said that the initiative is a welcome development stating that the the success of the initiative would depend on everyone offering their support for all efforts to combat crimes.
“I believe that community policing is an idea that is long due as our country tackles varying security challenges. It focuses more on using intelligence and constant interactions with the community folks to prevent crimes. However, what this means is that the success of this idea lies in everybody seeing security as our collective business,” AbdulRazaq said at the inauguration of the committee in Ilorin, the state capital.
While quoting authorities, Governor AbdulRazaq said that the central goal of community policing is for the law enforcement agencies to build relationships with communities with a view to creating partnerships and strategies to curb crimes and disorder.
“In February this year, our administration held a multi-stakeholder security dialogue on strengthening the existing security architecture in the state and exploring community initiatives. While recommendations from the dialogue have shaped our approach to security issues, this advisory committee will serve as another platform to engage local communities on matters of safety,” he said.
“Members of this committee are hereby assured of our cooperation and support to make the take off of community policing a huge success in Kwara State. Our security team will constantly engage with the Advisory Committee to strengthen cooperation with the Kwara communities to build mutual trust and create an environment that is hostile to crimes.”
The State Advisory Committee majorly comprises Head of the State Traditional Council (Chairman); the police commissioner (Co-chairman); heads of the various security agencies in the states; heads of Police Community Relations Committee; representatives of each senatorial district; and a representative each of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) and the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN).
Kwara State Police Commissioner Kayode Egbetokun in his remarks urged members of committee not to put their respective interests above the interest of the committee but provide solutions to criminal activities in the state.
“Let us all be committed to the goal of the committee which is to sit together and find solutions to crime problems in the state,” he said, commending the Governor for his continuous support for the police and other security agencies in the state.
Egbetokun also raised the alarm that crime has become a huge industry tempting and employing unemployed in many states of the federation.
“The crime industry is getting bigger and more sophisticated by the day. Unfortunately, its only products are criminals terrorizing and causing insecurity in our communities. The irony, however, is that crimes and their products (criminals) have their roots back in the communities. Simply put, the communities are the primary producers of the bad products which we now dread so much,” he said.
He said the new approach, backed by the FG, is part of the coordinated responses of the IGP to recent incidents of armed banditry, kidnapping, armed robbery, cultism in some states of the federation, “with a definite probability of spreading to other parts of the country if the present actions being taken to halt the trend are not taken.”
