The Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mr Ibrahim Idris, said on Tuesday that policemen would soon be deployed to their communities of origin to enhance community policing.
The IGP told a security stakeholders’ meeting in Lokoja that the bulk of the 150,000 policemen to be recruited over the next five years would serve in their respective communities.
Idris, who was represented by Shaibu Gambo, Deputy Inspector-General of Police in charge of Finance and Administration, said that the move was to take the police closer to the people.
He said that the police was faced with a shortage of manpower but promised more policemen and equipment for Kogi to further secure the people against rampaging armed robbers and kidnappers.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Zone 8 Assistant Inspector-General of Police, Mr Jibril Yakubu and the state Commissioner of Police, Mr Wilson Inalegwu, were at the meeting.
The state Chairman of the Police Community Relation Committee (PCRC), Mr Mohammed Salihu, urged traditional rulers and other stakeholders to show more interest in the security of their communities.
He said that police stations and security equipment in various communities should be safeguarded by residents to enhance community policing.
In its submission, Kogi branch of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria, called on the police to curb the incessant frictions between farmers and Fulani herdsmen in the state.
State secretary of the association, Suleiman Muhammed, said that three Fulani herdsmen were killed and 48 cows slaughtered in Omala Local Government Area in the past two months.
NAN reports that the meeting was attended by traditional rulers, Christian Association of Nigeria, Council of Ulamahu, transport unions and community leaders.
