DEFENCE
Foundation Says Adequate Patrol Vehicles, Constant Power Supply will Boost Community Policing
Cleen Foundation, an NGO, says adequate police patrol vehicles, constant power supply, amongst others, will aid the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) in the discharge of its duties, especially in community policing.Mrs Ruth Olofin, the Acting Executive Director of the foundation stated this on Friday, in Abuja, at a Town Hall meeting involving the FCT Police Command, Market, Religious and Traditional leaders.
The meeting themed: “The police need the community, the community needs the police” was organised by Cleen foundation, in collaboration with the Ford foundation. Olofin called for adequate resources for the Nigerian Police Force (NPF), to enable it discharge its duties diligently in the vital area of community policing.According to her, it was very necessary to equip the police with the right resources for community policing, because community policing was very critical to tackling insecurity.“Community policing is about being civil to the people in the community and changing strategies to policing the community.“It is crucial for the police to change their focus on how to police the people, because the approach the people have had so far on community policing was not encouraging.“This is why the police needs resources such as police vehicles, power generating plants with constant diesel or fuel to make the police station accessible even at night and to aid easy patrols,” she said.She urged the police to also set a standard policing model where the people and the community are at the centre of its policing priorities.Olofin said that where a friendly, but standard policing approach was in practice, the police will easily recognise when the people or the community was in distress.She further urged the police to design strategies on how to gain the trust of the people, adding that the police should proactively reach out to the people, especially those in the markets, social and religious centres.CSP El-Mustapha Sani, who represented the Public Complaints Bureau (PCB), advised the various leaders at the meeting to report cases of poor service delivery by the police.According to him, the schedule of the public complaint bureau was to ensure that the police officers do their work diligently.“The bureau works and monitors the activities of police officers and give the public the opportunity to report any police officer that defaulted in the discharge of their responsibilities.“We have a checks and balances system whereby all actions and inactions of a police officer is being checked and reported to the office and the PCB cuts across the 36 states including the FCT,” he said.Mr Otunba Bolagi, the Chairman, Police Commission Relations Committee (PCRC) FCT, said that the police was seeking to partner the community in order for the community to get the best of its services and enjoy maximum security.He added that the PCRC was seeking to partner with the community, because without the community there was no police and without the police there would be no community.“So, the synergy between both organs is very crucial and any partnership at this point is inevitable to tackle security issues at the community level,” he said.CSP Bello Abdullahi, the DPO of Kubwa Police Division, lauded the PCRC for the initiative to partner with the community for better performance.Abdullahi noted that the police was under financial constraints to effectively police the division, but that it would continue to do all within its capacity to ensure that the best policing service was provided with the support of the community.“While we are doing all to enhance our performance, we call for the support of the community; we need your resources, your useful and timely security information, in order to meet your policing expectations,” he said.He applauded the significant attendance of the traditional leaders, representatives of various Churches and Mosques, heads of leisure and social centres, marketers and the youths of the community.CSP Salihu Adamu Nababa, DPO of Mpape Police Division, also urged the people to support the police by reporting and turning in suspects of crimes at the police station.He cautioned against the use of “jungle Justice system” to solve community criminal cases or to administer justice.Mr Gilbert Yanjagi, an International Accessor on Security Watch Africa, said that the youths, especially those at the grassroots level, had a critical role to play at the community policing level.Yangaji appealed to musicians, comedians and other youth role models to refrain from projecting hate on the police, through their songs and other social acts.“Part of the way to ensure that the youth buy into a friendly police system is to get the key players in the entertainment industry to join forces with the police in community policing.“These key players would influence the youths greatly because the youths look up to them, they imitate them, they follow their instructions and are willing to do whatever these key players in the social and entertainment industry incorporate,” he said.Princess Nana Ngozi, Women Leader, the Police Commission Relations Committee (PCRC) FCT, appealed to parents and guardians to enforce good morals at the home level.According to her, most of the crimes, criminals and criminal cases have been largely attributed to poor moral background, and failures on the part of parents and guardians who ought to be the first custodians of good morals of their children.Mr Bash Olasupo, a security and peace building expert, also called for the closure of the gap that exists between the police and the youths in the community.Olasupo said that the youths should no longer be excluded from policy making, especially in security matters, which largely involves them and their various youthful activities and places of leisure.“We cannot continue to downplay the roles of the youths, it is time to give them space to exhibit their prowess, especially in community growth and development, which would reduce crime and criminal activities,” she said.Dantani Dan’Soho, who represented the Sarki of Bwari, called for public sensitisation on the community policing idea and the roles expected of the community towards effective policing.He said that the knowledge gathered at the meeting would be taken back to the Sarki of Bwari and his chiefs, for further discussions and to step down the knowledge to their followers.Members of the various communities, who attended the meeting, lauded the initiative of the NGOs and the FCT police command to dialogue with the people in order to improve community policing.They, however, appealed to the police to treat all information provided by the community regarding threats, distress calls, and security alarms with the strictest confidentiality and urgency. (NAN)
Police Arrest 2 Wanted Fugitives Over Human Trafficking, Armed Robbery
The Nigeria Police Force says it has arrested two suspected internationally wanted fugitives over human trafficking and armed robbery.
The Force Public Relations Officer, ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi said this in a statement on Wednesday in Abuja.
Adejobi said that one of the suspects was a ringleader of a human trafficking syndicate wanted by Belgian authorities while the second was a key member of a Dubai-based armed robbery gang.
He added that the first suspect was the alleged mastermind of a large-scale human trafficking operation and had been declared wanted by the Belgian authorities through an INTERPOL Red Notice.
He disclosed that the notice was issued on Dec. 19, 2023, adding that the suspect was arrested in Benin, the Edo capital, following diligent intelligence and enforcement efforts by police operatives.
The force PRO also said that the suspect was accused of trafficking young Nigerian women, including minors to Italy and subsequently dispersing them across Europe for the purpose of sexual exploitation.
He added that the victims were subjected to voodoo-based oaths and psychological coercion, with fabricated debts ranging from £20,000 to £50,000 used to manipulate and control them.
According to him, the criminal network of the suspect involved handlers in Brussels and France who managed the victims’ activities and remit proceeds to him.
”Following a conviction in absentia in Belgium in 2021 for multiple counts of aggravated human trafficking and criminal organisation leadership, the suspect fled to Nigeria.
”Upon his arrest, a search of his premises revealed incriminating materials, including a photocopy of a passport intended for a planned relocation to Canada.”
The police spokesman said the suspect has been scheduled to be arraigned at the Federal High Court in Benin.
Adejobi said the second suspect was arrested by the INTERPOL National Central Bureau (NCB), Abuja at a hideout in Nsukka, Enugu State.
He said that the suspect was wanted by authorities in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for series of serious crimes including armed robbery, cultism, drug trafficking, and other organised criminal activities.
He explained that intelligence had revealed that the suspect had continued to coordinate criminal operations remotely from Nigeria.
The force image maker disclosed that the suspect had been directly linked to several high-profile robberies in Dubai and Sharjah, including an armed robbery at a grocery store in Dubai Mall.
”The arrest is the result of strategic intelligence sharing and operational collaboration between the Nigeria Police Force, the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), and the Dubai Police,” he said.
Adejobi said the suspect would soon be arraigned in court. (NAN)
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, (NDLEA), has arrested 62,595 drug suspects and convicted 11,628 offenders between January 2021 to March 2025 across the 36 states and the FCT.
The NDLEA Chairman, retired, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa said this during the opening ceremony of a conference for Nigeria Governors Spouses on Tuesday in Abuja.
The event was organized by the NDLEA in collaboration with the Nigeria Governors Spouses’ Forum.
The theme is “Advanced Training on Drug Prevention Treatment and Care (DPTC) Stage 3 and Effective Management of the State Drug Control Committee.
Marwa said that over the past four years, the NDLEA had pursued this mission with renewed and unwavering zeal.
This, he said, was ensuring that Nigeria’s hard-won global and regional drug control successes were not merely preserved but expanded.
“Permit me to inform this distinguished gathering that over the four years, the NDLEA has deployed substantial resources towards a comprehensive assault on the drug problem, yielding significant outcomes.
“Under the drug supply reduction mandate, encompassing drug seizures, arrests, prosecutions, and convictions, we recorded the arrest of 62,595 drug suspects (Including 68 drug barons).
“We have seized 10,317,137.55 kilograms of assorted drugs, and secured the conviction of 11,628 offenders. Furthermore, 1,330.56553 hectares of cannabis farms were identified and destroyed,” he said.
Marwa said that equal emphasis had been placed on drug demand reduction to ensure a balanced approach in accordance with international best practices.
“Between January 2021 and March 2025, a total of 24,375 drug users received counselling and treatment at NDLEA facilities, primarily through brief interventions.
“Concurrently, 10,501 drug sensitisation programmes were conducted nationwide under the auspices of the War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) social advocacy campaign, reaching diverse target groups within communities.
“In parallel, a remarkable 3, 843, 789 participants were mobilised to partake in these enlightenment initiatives undertaken across the nation,” he said.
The NDLEA boss said that the agency had made intentional investments in the implementation of Drug Use Prevention strategies in recognising that prevention was invariably better than cure.
He said that those targeted interventions were vital in reducing risk factors and strengthening protective factors against substance abuse especially amongst vulnerable and marginalised populations, including our youth.
“However dark the hour, we must not surrender to despair.
“As patriots and vanguards of our nation’s well-being, it falls on us to strengthen our resolve, to move with deliberate speed towards practical and lasting resolutions that will, God willing, break the vicious cycle of drug abuse.
“This capacity building event represents a stride, small though it may seem, in the proper direction.
“Since it is at the community level that the burden of the drug menace is most acutely felt, it is vital that stakeholders, including all of us gathered here today, address the different dimensions of the problem from a community-centred perspective.
“This gathering must strive for common ground, developing indigenous and pragmatic solutions that go beyond mere statistics and harrowing headlines, addressing instead the real and harrowing human toll of drug abuse, ” he said
The Police Command in Bauchi State says it has apprehended four individuals involved in the production of counterfeit herbicides in Inkil, a suburb of Bauchi metropolis.
The Command’s Spokesman, CSP Ahmed Wakil, made this known to newsmen on Sunday in Bauchi.
He said that the operation, based on credible intelligence, was conducted on May 3, around 1:30 p.
m. by detectives from the Command’s Monitoring Unit.“The suspects were caught in the act at a residential property in the Unguwan Liman area, where authorities believed the illicit activity had been ongoing,” he said.
Wakil said the operation led to the seizure of a significant cache of counterfeit materials and equipment, including 26 cartons labeled “Force Up, an empty carton of “Gobora”.
Others are two drums filled with suspicious liquid, 100 empty one-litre “Force Up” containers and sealing tapes, scissors, glue, leather materials, charcoal, and welding tools.
“During interrogation, the suspects implicated a 36-year-old resident of Fadaman Mada, as the ringleader behind the illegal operation.
“He was swiftly tracked and apprehended,” Wakil said
He said that the suspects are in custody as investigations continue to uncover the extent of the counterfeit production and dismantle the network responsible.
Wakil reassured members of the public of the command’s commitment to eradicating criminal enterprises that threaten public safety and consumer trust
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