Kaduna begins screening of youths for community policing

From Noah Ebije, Kaduna

Kaduna Government has started screening of youths preparatory to commencement of community policing to tackle insecurity. 

Acting Governor, Hadiza Balarabe, yesterday, chaired a meeting which is  part of the  consultations in the three senatorial districts on how to address insecurity.

The  meeting had senators, House of Representatives, House of Assembly members and chairmen from the 15 local government areas in Kaduna North and Central as well as district heads in attendance.

Speaking with journalists after the meeting, senator representing Kaduna Central, Uba Sani, said they came together to look into the security problem facing Kaduna, stressing it needs to be tackled collectively.

Sani said he was working on a bill to restructure police architecture to meet contemporary challenges, adding that if it scales through, the bill will create state police.

“We want to solve insecurity in the state and Nigeria as a whole. We will involve the community in tackling insecurity in the state through traditional and political leaders. Our governor is determined to end insecurity in the state.’’

Also, member representing Kajuru/Chikun federal constituency, Yakubu Barde, commended Governor Nasir El-Rufai for his efforts in tackling insecurity.

Barde said insecurity affects everyone in the society, irrespective of political affiliations, ethnicity or religious beliefs.

“Commissioners for Local Government, Ja’afaru Sani and his Internal Security and Home Affairs counterpart, Samuel Aruwan, have briefed us during the meeting. You know state governors have no control over security. We are working on restructuring the police architecture to enhance our ability to solve insecurity,’’ he said.

Sani said state will commence thorough screening of selected youths by their district heads for community policing to fight insecurity. We plan to adopt community policing in our communities to complement security. We asked district heads to select honest youths and send to local government for thorough screening for community policing. We’re confident that community policing will solve the insecurity issue.’’

Aruwan, who made presentation on government efforts and steps in tackling insecurity, said government will continue to engage traditional, community, political leaders among others to end insecurity.