An Abuja-based security consultant, Ginika Umeaku, has advised Nigerians on the need to know their neighbours as a means to curb insecurity in the communities.
She said knowing one’s neighbour would make communities safer, especially in the current situation of insecurity where no one seemed to be safe.
The executive director of Boardwalk Protection Services said security was everyone’s business, hence the need for community and individual consciousness for safety.
According to her, the security agencies are doing their best within the available resources.
“It is a fact that for varying reasons, our security forces cannot be everywhere all the time.
While acknowledging the very possibility of sudden security threats, she said: “I will advise that communities must be ready, at all times, to work with the police and other security forces, to avail them with timely intelligence to prevent crimes and criminality before they occur.
“In the buildup of any suspicious activity, individuals who see something should say something in good time.”
She advised the government on community inclusiveness in the fight against insecurity in the country, adding that everyone was part of a community.
“The security situation in the country has taken different dimensions with varying complexities. Therefore, there must be multidimensional approach to realign and reorder these dynamics.
“Governments, at all levels, in the country remain critical in tackling the security challenges as enshrined in the constitution. It is expected these responsibilities be rigorously pursued.
“First, the primary policing institution in the country – the police – must be structured, well funded and adequately supervised to function optimally for effective internal security management.
“This should be followed with empowering other security and safety agencies for supportive and goal-driven performances,” she said.
Umeaku said government must equally be unrelenting in addressing social factors and indexes such as illiteracy, unemployment and implementing policies to genuinely contain hunger and the increasing cost of living.
She advised Nigerians to “see something, say something and also do something.”