The Federal Government has received the report of a committee it set up in May 2019 to recommend for it innovative ways of strengthening internal security framework and community policing in Nigeria.
Submitting the report Friday in Abuja, Chairperson of the committee and Permanent Secretary, Special Services Office in the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation OSGF, Dr Amina Shamaki said “the Committee has proposed innovative alternative funding mechanism to ensure the provision of infrastructure, equipping agencies with modern gadgets and weapons and for the welfare and wellbeing of personnel”.
According to her, “the Committee emphasized the deployment of technology particularly, for intelligence gathering, pre-empting incidences of crime and for resolving complex investigations. We highlighted the need for the Security Committees at the State and Local Government levels, to be made functional and the involvement of all strata of the society including the integration of the informal security outfits into the Community Policing Strategy”.
Receiving the report, Secretary to the Government of the Federation SGF, Mr Boss Mustapha noted that the committee’s work covered issues of policy, institutional and legal frameworks as well as the underlying factors that impede the capacity of Nigeria’s security agencies to adequately contain the various manifestations of insecurity in the country.
“I equally note that your work touched on the need to deploy appropriate technology in the fight against the various dimensions of criminality, the context of coordinating internal security architecture, capacity development and professionalism of security personnel, citizens’ involvement in internal security management as well as innovative funding mechanisms of security agencies and their operations and not the least, welfare of personnel.
“I am highly delighted that you worked assiduously hard to exhaustively examine the Report of the Executive Course 40, 2018 and proposed some far-reaching recommendations, including implementation strategies aimed at reinvigorating the Internal Security framework and Community Policing in Nigeria within a short timeframe.
“I have no doubt therefore, that the outcome of your recommendations would enthrone a paradigm shift that will focus on Community Policing, re-orientation of citizens and building a sustainable conflict resolution process that would assist in solving the perennial security challenges in the country”, the SGF added.
Inaugurated on May 7, 2019, the committee was asked to study and analyse the findings, recommendations and implementation strategies of the Presidential Parley Report by the Senior Executive Course 40, 2018 of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies NIPPS, Kuru, Jos and come up with Policy Statement for the consideration of the President.
In order to ease the accomplishment of the assigned task, the Committee devolved into two Sub-Committees namely, Internal Security and Community Policing. Members of the Sub-Committees held several meetings during which they brainstormed and critically studied the NIPSS Report with a view to developing actionable recommendations for strengthening internal security framework and for the implementation of Community Policing in the country.
