Governor of Osun State, Adegboyega Oyetola, has appealed to the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mohammed Adamu, to recruit locals as policemen, through the proposed Community Policing, in order to ensure adequate policing of the country.
He noted that the appeal became necessary because only those who are familiar with their community can gather intelligence effectively and efficiently, with a view to being proactive in preventing and combating crimes and other vices associated with the environment.
The governor made these known to the Deputy Inspector General of Police on Operations, DIG Abdulmajid Ali, who paid him a courtesy visit.
DIG Ali is on tour of evaluation of officers at training areas in the state and the South West. This is just as he commended the governor for being supportive to the officers and men of the Nigeria Police Force in their efforts to sustain the state’s status as the safest in the country.
Oyetola maintained that having the locals as part of community policing after their recruitment and training will improve security, since they know the nooks, crannies and dark places in their community, giving the kind of peculiarities seen with crime.
”I am happy about the community police concept being proposed, part of what I want to suggest is that, you recruit people from local government areas of the state and after training, post them back to their community because they know themselves as well as the nook, crannies and dark spot in their region.
”We are at the verge of sensitising the mining sector and the Inspector General of Police promised to assist us, this will stop criminals coming around under the guise of mining.
Apart from mining, environmental degradation is high and it’s causing havoc in our state,”the governor said.
Earlier in his remarks, the Deputy Inspector General of Police, DIG Abdulmajid Ali, stated that the security envoy was in the state on the directive of the IGP to evaluate the South West and the readiness of recruited officers in training for the Special Forces.
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“I commend Mr. Governor for being supportive to our welfare, as I promise to put in our best in maintaining law and order and to ensure that the state remains peaceful.”
”I am here in Osun State as directed by the Inspector General of Police to go round the southwest states for proper assessment of the security architectures and readiness of our officers and men at keeping the state safe. This visit is also aimed at informing each of the states that the IGP is fully aware of the security situation across the country. This visit is also targeted at telling Mr. Governor that there is need to strengthen the bond between the police; governors and relevant stakeholders.
“I have been to Ondo, Ekiti and shortly before I arrived here, I have visited the Police Training College in Ila-Orangun to evaluate the extent of the ongoing training.
“We believe that there is the need for the state governors to partner with us in an effort to maintain law and order and as well ensure adequate security and protection of lives and properties of the citizenry.
“It is in view of this that the Inspector General of Police had thrown his weight behind the introduction of community policing to strengthen security in the country. Through this, a lot of people will be employed locally into community policing as the gesture will equally help to ensure proper policing across the nooks and crannies,” Ali said.
The entourage of the Deputy Inspector General of Police, DIG Abdulmajid Ali included, Assistant Inspector General of Police Zone 11, AIG Adeleye Olusola, Commissioner of Police for Osun, CP Abiodun Ige, Commanding Officer PMF 39 Osogbo, ACP Sebastian Dumchan, and Zonal PRO Adekunle Ajisebutu among others.