By Augustine Ehikioya
The Asagba of Asaba, Delta State, Prof. Obi Chike Edozien, has declared that the various measures to tackle the issues of insecurity in Nigeria will remain ineffective unless the concerned communities are involved.
He made the remark in an exclusive interview with Security Watch Africa (SWA) in his palace in Asaba.
To overcome the various security challenges in the country, he specifically recommended the adoption of the Asaba approach that has made the town and the State peaceful.
He said “On this issue, maybe let me start off by making general comment. You know, there is insecurity in Nigeria, in many States, and many communities in Nigeria. The security system has been battling with this issue for sometime. On the whole I don’t think we have made much progress, and much needs to be done.
“In Asaba here, I think in terms of insecurity, the most serious period of insecurity we have here was about 20 years ago when we were beset with a large number of fraudster and a great insecurity in the town.
“All efforts to stem that insecurity, at that time, did not succeed. So, eventually, we as a Community took up the matter and that was the basis of our creation of Asaba Community Police and the idea was that the community should have this security outfit, which will work with and assist the Commissioner of Police to stem that insecurity.
“And I think everyone will agree that, within a very short time of creating this Asaba Community Police, the insecurity arising from the Yahoo boys was greatly diminished almost to nothing and that is evidence of the importance of having people in their own community being involved in the security of their community,” he added.
Recommending the Asaba approach, he said “I believe that if this approach is all over Nigeria, Nigeria will become a more secured country.”
Before Asaba town got the approach right, he pointed out that there was debate over the approach that spanned a number of years.
“Over the years, they debated a long time, what should be the name of this outfit. The Commissioner of Police at the time was supporting that we call it Asaba Community Police, and that’s what we did. But subsequent Commissioners did not approve of that name and we changed from Asaba Community Police to Asaba Vigilante.
“But I think now, there is no more issue. The Commissioner of Police and Police accept Asaba Community Police as appropriate title for the outfit.
The 96 years old Royal Father added “Now, in that regard, we did not make it an independent outfit. It was specially created to work with the Police, that is why we call it Asaba Community Police.
“And when we started, we called the Commissioner of Police to come and train our people. So, they got training and everything they did, they reported to the Police. So, they were part of the system, but it enabled the Federal Police to have control of the community, because through them, they entered the community and with the cooperation of the Community, they have good security. That has continued.”
Stressing that security in the country will not be achieved without the communities, he said “So, in summary, I believe without the involvement of the communities, security as we want it will not happen.
“We need Community involvement and community leadership. So, we had a lot of discussions with the media about Federal Police, State Police, Community Police and all that. I believe that the present system, if we have the Federal Police with the support and cooperation of the communities and Community Police System, our country will be far more secured than it is today.
“I think that is a general observation. So, all the talk about Federal Police, State Police and so on, I think the most important thing is that we have an official Police, we have the Federal Police and they must work with people inside and within the Community,” he stated.
Asked if Asaba is really safe for people to go about their lawful businesses, he said “Generally Speaking, from what I read in the newspapers, I will say that Asaba is relatively safe because we don’t have the level of crime and insecurity that I read in the newspapers in other Communities. And I believe that being so, the relative security of the town is that we have an effective Community Police that works with the Federal Police.
According to him, the Asaba approach to fighting insecurity greatly helped the town during the period gunmen were attacking and burning down Police stations in the South East.
The erudite scholar said “I think that is part of what I have told you, because the Commissioner of Police and the Federal Police are working very closely, hand in hand with the Community Police, the people see Police as being friendly and they are here to protect us and work with us.
“And you don’t just go and burn the houses and properties of your friends. If there is a riot, you burn the properties of your enemies. So, some of the people see the Police as their friends, to protect them.
“In Northern Nigeria when you have Community and insurgency, it is the community themselves that when they feel safe, they work with the official agencies to secure the place.
“They know when enemies come in, they know when there is going to be riot or insecurity. And if you don’t involve the Community in their own security, outsiders can come at anytime and take the Community over. And that is something that we hope the Federal Government will realize in fighting against insecurity in many parts of Nigeria,” he said.