More than four hundred Community Police Officers have been deployed to enhance security at the grassroots.
A press statement signed by the Deputy Superintendent of Police, Nelson Okpabi indicated that the special constabularies were deployed by Zaki Ahmed, the Assistant Inspector General of Police, Zone Six, Calabar.
The statement further indicated that the special constabularies completed the Batch 2 training programme at the Nigeria Police Training School in Odukpani, Cross River State, south-south Nigeria.
Inclusive internal security
It stated that Ahmed represented the Inspector General of Police, IGP Mohammed Adamu at the passing out parade and commended the recruits for their perseverance during the training.
Ahmed said, “this programme is a brainchild of the Inspector General of Police introduced as one of the strategies of the Nigeria Police designed to employ an all-inclusive mechanism to aid in internal security”.
“The force took into consideration the increasing complexities of crimes and the challenges of policing a vast and diverse country like ours and introduced the people-oriented method that would bring about trust, consent and partnership between the police and the people,” Ahmed further stated.
The AIG enumerated the responsibilities of the constables to include “crime prevention and detection, conflict resolution, intelligence gathering, law and order maintenance, complementing the conventional police in patrol of the public space within their communities.”
Others, he stated, are “advising the public on safety measures, security tips, dealing with minor offences and social vices, working with communities, schools, young people, businesses, religious and cultural groups, recreational centres and hospitality outfits as well as assisting in traffic management”.
According to him, the deployment of the constables back to their communities would enable the force redirects its human and material assets from managing low-level crimes to high-profile crimes that constitute a major threat to community safety and security.
The 485 Community Police Officers are from different villages in Akwa Ibom State, south-south Nigeria.
Zainab Sa’id
