A former Director General of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON) and Managing Consultant of Crestpoint Consulting Ltd, Sir Itiako Ikpokpo, has called for the institutionalisation of community policing as a solution to Nigeria’s worsening insecurity.

He urged the National Assembly to urgently provide the legislative framework and constitutional provisions necessary to place community policing under the control and regulation of local governments.

In a statement yesterday, Ikpokpo commended the recent military clampdown on kidnappers around Ogwashi-Uku and other parts of Delta North Senatorial District, noting that the intelligence-gathering roles of community vigilantes and volunteer security groups were crucial to the success of those operations.

He stressed that such outcomes highlight the non-negotiable role of community policing in combating insecurity across the country.

The former ALGON Delta State Chairman and Chairman of Isoko South Local Council said Nigeria’s security challenges would persist until a well-structured community policing system, under the control of local governments and backed by constitutional regulation on operations and funding, is enacted by the National Assembly and domesticated by the various State Houses of Assembly.

He identified the shortage of security personnel, rising population, vast landmass, unfamiliar terrain, and cultural and language barriers as factors undermining the current policing structure.

“The recent successes by security agencies in Ogwashi-Uku and other parts of Delta North against kidnappers.”