The federal government and state governors are working on how to boost the manpower of the Nigeria police force by recruiting members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) and graduates of the N-Power programme for community policing.
Kayode Fayemi, chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, made this known while speaking with state house correspondents after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja on Friday.
He said both parties felt the recruitment of 10,000 policemen to tackle the dearth of security agents in the country was “inadequate”.
In May, Mohammed Adamu, acting inspector-general of police, had said Buhari directed him to immediately commence the implementation of community policing strategy across the country.
Community policing focuses on building strong ties between the police and members of the community through interactions with local agencies and members of the public — creating partnerships and strategies for reducing crime and disorder.
“The President of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari has directed me to immediately implement community policing strategy across the country; this is a structure, which will enable traditional rulers to maintain an effective cultural and social control over their subjects,” Adamu had said.
“The Special Constables will be drawn from members of the community to serve as voluntary community police officers under the coordination of the Nigeria Police Force.
The IGP had also said the community policing model envisaged for the country would involve the establishment and utilisation of the special constables, as provided for in section 50 (1) of the police act cap P19 LFN 2004.
He explained that the special constables model, mirrored after the police community support officers standard in the United Kingdom policing architecture, would be tailored to align with the existing traditional security structure in the northern part of the country.