By Kingsley Madaki
Minister of the Federal Capital Territory FCT, Malam Muhammad Musa Bello has disclosed that his administration plans to introduce community policing within the FCT communities and Area Councils to curtail security challenges in the territory.
The FCT Minister who made this known in Abuja when a delegation of Council of Chiefs of the Pai Chiefdom in Kwali Area Council of the FCT, led by the Magajin Pai, Alhaji Bawa Yahaya, paid a visit to the FCTA, said with adequate community policing, a lot of the security challenges currently being experienced in the FCT could be surmounted.
Malam Bello, while noting that security is now everybody’s business, said the traditional and political leadership within the Area Councils must work together with other experts to organize community policing structures that will not only tackle insecurity but also provide credible intelligence to the security agencies.
The Minister who lamented that efforts to introduce community policing in the FCT in the past have not been very successful, attributed the challenge to the over reliance of the communities on the FCT Administration to provide all the necessary logistics. He urged the traditional and political leadership in the Area Councils to show more commitment to ensure the success of the programme.
He said: “The reality is that security now is everybody’s business. We have tried as much as possible to encourage community policing in the FCT but we have not had success. The challenge we faced, especially with the community policing issue, is that many of the communities were just waiting for the Federal Government or maybe the State and in our own case, the FCT Administration to pay for everything.”
“As you know, resources are very scarce. If the Federal Government through the system established by the Nigerian Police takes care of the training and maybe the kitting, other things including allowances should be taken up by the local community”.
The Minister therefore advised FCT Communities and the leadership of the Area Councils to work with experts within their various domains to identify able bodied men and women and encourage them to be part of the community policing process.
“The advantage is that Mr. President has approved the employment of 10,000 policemen every year. So, you find that the natural thing is that those that are trained as community policing constabulary can easily be absorbed into the main police. Even if initially, it is the community that is funding their transport, their logistics or even paying for whatever they require when they go for training, the community will still benefit because eventually, it is the same able-bodied men and women that will be absorbed by either the police or the military”, he added.
While pledging the support of the FCT Administration to ensure the success of community policing in the FCT, Malam Bello also promised the intervention of Administration in the provision of access roads and educational facilities in the community.
Speaking earlier for the delegation, the Sarkin Yakin Pai, Dr Husseini Halilu Pai, appreciated the relationship between the FCT Administration and the Pai Community as well as the show of love and concern by the FCT Minister to the community.
He said the visit by the Minister to the community following the death of its Chief, HRH Alh. Abdullahi Bala Ibrahim Pai, was a clear demonstration of good leadership and care for the people of Pai and the entire residents of the FCT.
Dr. Pai pledged the support of Pai community for all activities by the government to curb insecurity in the FCT while calling on the Administration to continue to provide basic infrastructure in the community.
Also present at the meeting were the Chief of staff to the Minister, Malam Bashir Mai Bornu, Managing Director, Abuja Investment Company Limited, Alhaji Abubakar Pai and other officials of the FCTA and members of the Pai council of chiefs.
