RAGE OF THE ‘CONSTABULARIES’
The present community policing strategy does not cater to the needs of the people
While the clamour for community policing had been on for decades, not many Nigerians were enthusiastic when in October 2020 President Muhammadu Buhari directed the police hierarchy to commence recruitment of some special constables with a N13 billion take-off grant. Following the directive, then Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu asked police commissioners to liaise with traditional rulers and community leaders in their states to screen volunteers. That the recruits were expected to replicate the functions and duties of the conventional police and wear the same uniform without clear ideas about their expectations and remunerations was a problem from the outset.
It therefore came as no surprise last week when hundreds of men and women, dressed in police uniform, staged a public protest in Ilorin, Kwara State, over “non-payment of salaries” since completing their training in April 2021. The viral video on social media stirred up the Kwara State Police Command to disown the protest. “The characters seen in the video are police special constabularies recruited to complement the operation of community policing,” spokesman, Ajayi Okasanmi said. He added that neither the state command nor the government made any financial commitment to the constabularies before, during and after their training.
The Police Force Headquarters in Abuja has also described the protest as a “rude shock” because the community policing constabulary scheme is voluntary and meant only for gainfully employed people essentially “to promote community partnership in crime control via the presence of respected members of the public.” But the protest raises pertinent questions: Were many of the jobless youths who enlisted in the scheme told in clear terms that their services were only voluntary, and that they would not be paid salaries? Even more important, were they properly vetted before being given police uniforms and deployed for security duties? And is the scheme supervised from Abuja or are the locals in charge?
As things stand, there is a huge trust deficit between those hired as police constabularies and government at all levels. Yet, at the root of effective community policing is firm trust between the people and its operators. Incidentally, but for the incident in Ilorin, many Nigerians were not even aware that the scheme has taken off since there is no dent in incidents of crime in neighbourhoods and communities across the country. Instead, crime rate is on the rise with daily reports of diverse problems ranging from drug abuse to violent gang activities and rape.
Ordinarily, community policing is predicated on the belief that authorities and citizens at the grassroots have a joint responsibility to fight crime. Under the concept, both the police and the locals build synergy aimed at guaranteeing the security of lives and property in the neighbourhoods by freely exchanging ideas, sharing intelligence and acting on such. Community police personnel are expected to have frequent contacts with members of the community all with a view to enforcing law and order and solving local problems. That is not what is happening in Nigeria today with this controversial scheme.
If the overall aim of the “special constabularies” is to hire locals familiar with the environment, language and all the nuances of culture to help fight crimes, the idea has been subverted. Such a scheme can only be driven effectively by the states, not from Abuja. There could be areas of mutual cooperation between the federal and the state, but not the suffocating model that is in the works. The Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) has long championed the call for state police. And the governors have very compelling reasons to ask for the decentralisation of the Nigeria Police Force as presently constituted. They, as the chief security officers of their states, more or less, bear the huge responsibilities for the upkeep and maintenance of the police in form of logistics, allowances and other forms of assistance. But they have no control over these police commands.
As admitted by the Force Headquarters, there is an urgent need “to review the effectiveness” of the “special constabularies” scheme. But in the immediate, they must also find a way to disengage the unruly bunch in Kwara State before they become a national security risk.
