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Paschal Emeka, Abuja
The Director General National Commission for the Prohibition of Illegal Importation of Small Arms, Ammunition and Light Weapons (NATFORCE), Chief Osita Okereke has stated that community policing may not to be the panacea to various security challenges bedeviling the country.
Baring his mind during an interview in Abuja, Chief Okereke warned that the proposed community in some parts of the country is capable of creating more security challenges and become a futile efforts.
“There is nothing like community policing. How are they going to appoint and fund them? Are they going to pay them through the Police Service Commission? Let us not beat about the bush. National policing has not worked and you cannot float a new system with a failed system. Who will supervise community policing when some DPOs has not obeyed the orders of the Inspector General of Police.
“I believe the community policing should be the job of NATFORCE. What we are trying to do is to initiate employment. The important thing in Nigeria today is employment. We want to initiate employment in all localities in Nigeria. We want to train people and give them mandate.
“Under community policing you will train them and give them lectures. It will not solve the problems of insecurity. What will be the composition of that community policing. For instance, if you give the traditional rulers mandate to nominate people, they will select people they like and others will be excluded. Those selected will be loyal to the traditional rulers. It means there will be no peace.
“Everyone knows that the structure we have today is faulty. The present system has failed and we need a new born child that knows what it takes to tackle insecurity. We need a new approach that will make a difference. Community policing is not a sustainable scheme, once the governors that initiated it go, it will die a natural death and we will return to square one.
“Whether you call it Amotekun, Ogbunigwe, IPOB or ‘Shege Ka Fasa, it is not going to work because most of them will be funded by the governors. If you are not in their good book, they can use it against you. It is capable of endangering people’s lives. So it is better all these collapse under the NATFORCE structure. The Inspector General of Police should partner with us.
