Strengthening Community Policing in Nigeria

Protecting valued assets and maintaining law and order are some of the core essences of state formation. Such valued assets include human and infrastructural assets and the state\’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. Also, state and human security entail the absence of fear that valued assets will be attacked and the pursuit of freedom from want and fear (Thomas and Aghedo, 2014). For over two decades in Nigeria, violent insecurity has surged in scale and sophistication, posing an unprecedented threat to valued assets, including lives, investments and the state\’s territorial integrity.

Statistical mapping based on the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data and Nextier Violent Conflict Database reveals that between January 1997 and March 2020, 2,203 incidents of hostility between and among ethnic-based militia groups resulted in 16,328 fatalities. For the same period, 1,473 incidents of pastoral banditry killed no fewer than 9,971 persons (55 per cent from 2015). Between 2000 and 2018, 19,896 cases of pipeline vandalisation and 320 cases of rupture were recorded in the Niger Delta, resulting in the loss of 2.45 metric tons of oil worth 125.4 billion Naira and 375 fire outbreaks (Oyewole, 2021).

This edition of Nextier SPD Policy Weekly examines how the powers and functions of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) can be sufficiently devolved to the community levels to enhance optimum performance.

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