Enugu State Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, at the weekend, inaugurated 272 special constables from the 17 local councils recently recruited and trained at Oji River Police College for a community-policing project in the state.
The governor, while inaugurating the special constables, also known as Community Policing Officers (CPOs), at the Government House, Enugu, said that 16 of them were recruited from each local council of the state and drawn from the existing Neighborhood Watch Associations and Forest Guards.
Ugwuanyi also said that the special constables would be deployed to their wards and local councils to assist the extant security apparatus in gathering and sharing of intelligence with the security agencies as well as maintain liaison between their communities and the police.
The governor, who pointed out that “our rejigged and re-tooled Enugu State security architecture will facilitate their new role,” congratulated the leadership and members of SCPAC for the self-evident progress they have recorded.
He said that the state government would continue to provide the necessary support for community policing in the state “in furtherance of its unflinching commitment to protection of life and property of all law-abiding residents in Enugu State.”
He, therefore, urged all residents of the state to avail the newly-inaugurated special constables their maximum support and co-operation.
Chairman of SCPAC and the state’s Commissioner of Police, CP Mohammed Ndatsu Aliyu, stated that the inauguration was a remarkable feat in the implementation of community policing practice in Enugu State.
He commended Governor Ugwuanyi for pioneering and making the new community-policing model initiated by the Inspector-General of Police a reality in the state.
The CP charged the trained CPOs to be professional and abide by the stipulated guidelines in their duties of information/intelligence-gathering and apprehending of criminals and other law offenders in their various localities.
He said that the CPOs were also to, under the supervision of the Divisional Community Policing Committees, detect crimes; settle low-level civil disputes and petty crimes; complement the conventional police in the patrol of the public spaces within their local communities; sensitise, reassure and advise the public safety, crime prevention and security tips, and deal with minor offences and social vices.
He added that the special constables were to equally “work with the communities, schools and young people, business communities, religious bodies, cultural groups, community-based associations, recreational centres and hospitality businesses towards crime control, and assist in traffic management and school safety duties.”
Meanwhile, in their separate remarks, Chairman and Co-chairman of the Enugu State Community Policing Committee (SCPC), DCP Fred Ekokotu and HRH Igwe (Dr.) Emma Ugwu, respectively, applauded Ugwuanyi for his consistent support and commitment to security issues in the state, stressing that the 272 trained special constables are combatant ready to assist the state, their communities and the public to combat crimes with the police.
