Community-driven police better than state police, says Shekarau 

Former governor of Kano State, Ibrahim Shekarau, has asserted that prioritising the adoption of community police over the proposed establishment of state police will be more effective in addressing the current security challenges in the country.

Shekarau maintained that community police would be better insulated from political influences and would be better controlled than state police due to the involvement of community and religious leaders.

The former Minister of Education, who emphasised the importance of fostering a strong relationship between law enforcement agencies and local communities, strongly believes that the involvement of communities in state policing would enhance trust, cooperation and collaboration between the police and the citizens.

He stated this at the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA) during the launch of the book, The Psychology of Growing Old: A Personal Experience for both Young and Old, written by Sehinde Arogbafa.

Shekarau expressed concerns over the interests threatening the establishment of the proposed state police, stating that the presence of party thugs would jeopardise the efficiency and integrity of the security apparatus.

According to him, the primary focus of efficient security should be on intelligence gathering rather than relying solely on sophisticated weapons, maintaining that the Hisbah model in Kano State and other community vigilante groups should be looked into.

He said: “I have been an advocate of community policing; it is different from what is being paraded as state police. Community policing means community watch. There is hardly any community in Nigeria that does not have what we call a vigilante group. The government only needs to organise them.

“You must have had experience with the Hisbah Guards; that is community watch. We set up a committee of 12 elders in every ward to do the selection of 20 responsible and respected young men for the Hisbah Guards. We recruited them and mandated that the local council take charge of them. We pay them allowances, and they know everybody in the community. Within two years in Kano, we have no vice, no drugs because that is community watch.”