Olubadan of Ibadanland,His Imperial Majesty, Oba Saliu Adetunji, and the Soun of Ogbomoso, His Imperial Majesry ,Oba Jimoh Oyewumi have advocated for community policing as one of the ways to tackle criminal activities in rural areas.
The paramount rulers stated this at their palaces while playing host to the participants of the Senior Executive Course (SEC) No.40, 2018 National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) Kuru who were on study tour to Oyo State.
They said community policing was very essential as according to them, there would be no hiding place for criminals if effective community policing was put in place.
The paramount rulers noted that the already existing police officers were not enough to tackle the noticeable increase in criminal activities expressing concerns over shortage of police personnel in thier domains.
They called on Federal Government to emulate the system that was being used before the advent of colonial leaders where paramount rulers were the one securing their territories through their baales and mogajis in their various communities.
The duo therefore gave kudos to Oyo State Government towards its efforts to protect the lives and properties of the people in the State.
Earlier, the team leader, Dr.Nasirdeen Usman stated that the purpose of the visit was to receive royals’ blessings and to find out the ways and strategies they were using to strengthen security of lives and property in their communities.
He hinted that communities needed to play a greater role in policing of their areas in order to achieve a crime free society; saying security is the responsibility of all.
Dr Usman therefore appreciated the roles being played by the paramount rulers in the area of community policing because ” the communities have to be engaged in deciding the security of lives and property of thier subjects ”’, added that all their observations and suggestions will be included in their recommendations to the President at the end of their Study.
The theme of the course is “Strengthening Internal Security Framework and Community Policing in Nigeria: “Models Policy Options and Strategies”.
