With less than 20,000 police personnel, Lagos State with over 22 million population is under-policed, and to bridge the gap is to encourage the involvement of the people in security management through community policing. The governor of Lagos, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu has said.
He also assured the leadership of the Nigerian Police Force of continued support from the state government, for the implementation of the renewed hope agenda for community policing, as handed down to the Ministry of Police Affairs by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
He gave the assurance on Monday at a town hall security meeting on community policing organised by the Ministry of Police Affairs, which was held at the Continental Hotel Victoria Island, Lagos.
While adding that the state has always had the Lagos Security Trust Fund, through which the state government supports Federal security agencies like the Army, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), and Federal Road Safety Corp (FRSC), among others, in addition to the Nigeria Police Force.
Themed: “Renewed Hope for Community Policing: Building A Safer Nigeria Together”, the governor said the event resonates with the state’s philosophy of policing through collaboration with, and engaging stakeholders, which he says are in line with the Renewed Hope for Policing agenda of the Nigeria police.
Speaking, Sanwo-Olu added that; “Lagos State government has always been in support of the desire to embrace community policing as a strategy to enhance the safety of lives and property adding that the establishment of the Lagos Neighbourhood Safety Corps in 2016 was in pursuance of the government’s effort to promote community policing in Lagos State.
While commending the Ministry of Police Affairs for organisation and choosing a theme that resonates with global practice and approach to ensuring the safety y of the lives and property of citizens, Sanwo-Olu noted that there was a better time to raise discussions over the issue of community, saying that it permits for thinking globally and acting locally.
Sanwo-Olu also said that it is a concept that vividly agrees with the often repeated notion that security is everybody’s business, stressing the need to develop an operational framework that will guide the nation towards seamless coordination of efforts among stakeholders he said must not negate constitutional provision which empowers the Police to deal with issues of internal security, rather, he said it must “foster understanding of responsibilities and set clear boundaries for everybody involved in community policing.’
He noted that security is an important pillar of its THEMES Plus Agenda, this he said is evidenced in various security enhancement initiatives aimed at strengthening the capacity and the will of the Lagos state police command and other security agencies in the state to enhance their effectiveness in tackling security challenges in all the nooks and crannies of the State.
“We have been able to achieve this largely through the Lagos State Security Trust Fund (LSSTF}, a special purpose vehicle created in 2006 to finance security in the State. Through this platform to which individuals and corporate organizations continue to contribute both financially and materially, we have been able to support the Police and other sister security agencies with thousands of vehicles and equipment that have gone a long way to strengthen the security architecture in the State.
“In addition, we must also modernise our security architecture and operations with the deployment of state-of-the-art technology for improved efficiency.
On her part, the Minister of State for Police Affairs, Hadjia Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, said that the town hall meeting aims to provide a platform for direct engagement between the ministry of police affairs, citizens, and other critical stakeholders across Nigeria. Adding that it will lead to the development of a robust community policing policy and implementation framework.
It will also foster open and transparent dialogue between the Ministry of police affairs and citizens across the selected states. Provide detailed information on current and planned policing reforms with the Nigeria Police Force to enhance citizen understanding.
Clarifying that the choice of Lagos for the maiden edition of the town hall meetings is due to the state’s sustained efforts in the area of community policing, the Minister also said the collaboration initiatives between the Police and the public are targeted at developing and implementing the Renewed Hope Police Agenda and Transformation Roadmap, which he says is needed to address existing challenges and fundamentally reshape the Police in Nigeria into a modern, proactive, intelligence-led and technology-driven efficient institution.
While stating that the country requires about N3.4 trillion investment over five years to effectively reposition the police, Sulaiman-Ibrahim called on private donors, corporate organisation, and other well-spirited citizens to keep supporting the police, urging them to see policing and communal safety as a joint mandate of the police and the citizenry.
