Insecurity: Kaduna begins screening of youths for community policing

The Kaduna state government has begun screening youths as part of its preparation to commence community policing in the state.

Uba Sani, senator representing Kaduna-central, disclosed this on Monday after Hadiza Balarabe, acting governor of the state, chaired a consultation meeting with stakeholders on how to address insecurity.

The meeting had in attendance, federal and state lawmakers, chairmen of the 15 local government areas in Kaduna-north and Kaduna-central senatorial zones as well as district heads.

Addressing journalists after the meeting, Sani said he was working on a bill to restructure police architecture to meet contemporary challenges, adding that if it scales through, the bill will create state police.

“I’m working on a bill to restructure the police architecture, that will pave way for federal and state police. We want to solve insecurity in the state and Nigeria as a whole,’’ Sani said.

“We will involve the community in tackling insecurity in the state, through traditional and political leaders. Our governor is determined to end insecurity in the state.’’

Also speaking, Ja’afaru Sani, commissioner of local government, said the screening of selected youths is the first phase towards attaining community policing.

“We plan to adopt community policing in our communities to complement security. We asked district heads to select honest youths and send to local government for thorough screening for community policing. We are confident that community policing will solve the insecurity issue,” Ja’afaru Sani said.

In May 2019, Mohammed Adamu, inspector-general of police, said President Muhammadu Buhari directed him to commence the implementation of community policing strategy across the country.

In August, the federal government approved N13.3 billion for the take-off of community policing in the country.