By Augustine Ehikioya
To reduce and prevent crimes and criminality in Nigeria, a retired Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG), Wilson Inalegwu, has called on the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) to be at the forefront of moves to win the confidence of Nigerian.
According to him, everything should be done to build relationship with the people in the various communities, which usually have vital information to prevent crimes.
He spoke on Saturday during the Security Watch Africa (SWA) programme on Africa Independent Television (AIT). The discussion was on the “Surging Insecurity In Nigeria.”
AIG Inalegwu said “In managing crime, it is not rocket-science, it is about the people. The people know each other, who just move into a community. If they have confidence in you, they will tell you.
“So that is a challenge. We need that robustness in engaging the people. The police should be in the forefront of getting people together to build relationship. By so doing, they will begin to have confidence,” he added.
He urged the Police leadership to always take prompt measures against any Police Officer and Men rubbishing the image of the Force through their conducts.
Those operating outside their mandates and those living above their incomes, he said, should be promptly tackled.
He also pointed out that available statistics and data at the disposal of Policemen are grossly inadequate for them to plan and prevent issues of crime.
The former AIG also harped on the need to focus on the ‘fear of crime’ and not just planning to prevent crime alone.
Noting that it is usual to experience some spike in crimes after elections, he said that the confusion caused by the introduction of the cashless policy and poverty general are critical factors.
The employment opportunities offered by the 2023 general elections, he said, also contributed to the spike in post election crimes, as they ended with the election.
He said “There were some confusion about cashless policy and also the election period provided a lot of employment, either as INEC Ad-Hoc staff, those in the campaign trail, those that will come and talk and you get N500 or N1,000 and you get food to eat.
“Poverty is one of the causes of insecurity. Unemployment, of course, that opportunity has reduced,”
Stressing that there is need to maintain some consistency when dealing with crime and criminality, he said that crime cannot be totally eliminated, but can be reduced and prevented.
