Former Director General of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON) and Managing Consultant Crestpoint consulting Ltd, Sir Itiako Ikpokpo KSM, has urged the Nation’s parliament to urgently provide the necessary legislative framework and constitutional provisions to institutionalize community policing under the control and regulation of local governments as a lasting solution to Nigeria’s worsening insecurity.
In a statement, Ikpokpo commended the recent military clampdown on kidnappers around Ogwashi-Uku and other parts of Delta North Senatorial District, noting that the support and intelligence-gathering roles of community vigilantes and volunteer security groups were crucial to the success of those operations.
He stressed that such outcomes underscore the non-negotiable role of community policing in fighting insecurity across the country.
The former ALGON Delta State Chairman and ex-Chairman of Isoko South Local Government Area observed that until a well-structured community policing system under the control of the local government and backed by constitutional regulation on mode of operations and funding is enacted by the National Assembly and domesticated by the various State Assemblies, the nation’s security challenges will persist.
He listed the shortage of security personnel, rising population, vast landmass, unfamiliar terrain, and cultural and language barriers as key factors undermining the current policing structure.
“The recent successes by security agencies in Ogwashi-Uku and other parts of Delta North against kidnappers, coupled with the backing roles of community vigilantes and volunteers, highlight the urgent need for the institutionalisation of community policing under the regulation and control of local governments.
While we have pockets of vigilante and volunteer groups across the country, it is expedient to legitimise and integrate them into the local government-led community policing system,” he stated.
Ikpokpo lamented the delay in legislative and policy conversations around community policing, describing it as a major factor behind Nigeria’s deteriorating security. He aligned with security experts who believe that institutionalised community policing could reduce insecurity by 60 to 70 percent, citing his practical and administrative experiences as local government chairman.
Recounting his tenure between 2014 and 2021, Ikpokpo revealed that the total police strength in Isoko South Local Government never exceeded 60 personnel for an area covering 668 square kilometres and over 10 towns and communities.
“Beyond the inadequate number of personnel, issues such as language and cultural barriers, alongside difficult terrain, have rendered the present policing system grossly insufficient. Our communities are largely unpoliced spaces where crime and criminality thrive unchallenged. To argue otherwise is to live in denial,” he warned.
Ikpokpo therefore called on the National Assembly and the various State Assemblies to as a matter of urgency, initiate modalities for local government community policing and enact appropriate legislations for its operation.
“It is the surest panacea to the hydra-headed insecurity plaguing the nation,” he declared.
