The Police Community Relations Committee (PCRC), “A” Division, Mararaba, Nasarawa State, has harped on the need for improved Police community relations in fighting crime in the area.
The PCRC Chairman, “A” Division, Mararaba, Mr Noel Nnaji, made the call at the end of a one day security sensitisation workshop on Thursday in Mararaba, Karu Local Government area of Nasarawa State.
The seminar, organised by the PCRC “A” Division Mararba, is focused on strengthening stakeholders synergy for the safety of lives and properties, intelligence gathering and management among others Nnaji said the “A” Division had over the years put in measures to curtail rising rate of crime in Mararaba, occasioned by influx of people from the Federal Capital Territory(FCT), Abuja.
He said the seminar, which had critical stakeholders in attendance, was one of such efforts by the committee, to ensure synergy between the Police and the community in protecting lives and properties.
“PCRC is a policy of government and we have a state structure here in Nasarawa State and from the state structure we have the divisional structure where we find ourselves in Mararaba.
“The committee is playing a pivotal role in assisting the police with vital intelligence, to help fight crime across “A” Division.
“Mararaba is fast growing. Since the 2006 demolition in FCT, most residents working there, found their way here, a town in Nasarawa State which has a nexus with Abuja.
“In view of this, crime is expected to be high and having seen what is happening across the country, we had to take preventive measures.
“So, instead of hanging our hope on management of crime we are adopting preventive measures, which is better at fighting crime.
“We embarked on a research which spanned over four years and with the outcome of the research, we decided to hold this seminar to unveil our model for fighting crime.
“One of the major take from the seminar is inter-agency collaboration between the community, the Nigeria Police Force, the Nigeria Bar Association(NBA) and other critical stakeholders, ” he said.
The chairman said one of the findings from the research was the challenge of smooth flow of information among stakeholders, saying it had hampered effective coordination in the fight against crime.
He stressed that in some instances residents were not aware of why they should share intelligence with the police in fighting crime.
He added that even in cases where awareness had been created, residents were afraid of sharing information with the police.
“We decided to organise this seminar to bring critical stakeholders together to discuss all of these and how important it is for them to make information available to the police.
“This is because modern police is intelligence driven. Information is a raw material in intelligence gathering.
“So, we believe that the seminar had been able to educate all stakeholders on their roles in this onerous task of crime prevention, management and control.
“There were sessions on how to gather, analyse, classify, send information to the appropriate authority while monitoring to ensure the information is used appropriately.”
On recent approval of N13.3 billion by the Federal Government for community policing in the country, Nnaji said it was a welcome development.
He, however, advised government to spend more of the funds on preventive measures than crime control and management, adding that, “it is cheaper to prevent crime than control and manage it.”
Alhaji Jibrin Waziri, Chief of Gurku, Karu Local Government Area, Nasawara State, commended the foresight of the Nigeria Police Force in creating PCRC.
He said the committee, particularly the “A” Division, had worked hard over the years in fostering peace in Mararaba and its environs.
“On behalf of the District and village heads as well as the entire residents of Gurku Chiefdom, I wish to sincerely commend the foresight of the police authority for creating the PCRC.
“There is no doubt that the Nigerian Police Force, Mararaban Gurku “A” Division is trying their best in addressing our security needs, because despite its cosmopolitan nature, the area is relatively calm in terms of security.
“However, it is obvious the police would not have achieved desired result due to inadequacy of personnel deployed to Mararaban Gurku area without the interventions of the PCRC.”
He commended the effort of the committee, particularly, in the area of timely release of information to the police, which he said had helped in safeguarding lives and properties in the area.
While assuring of the traditional council’s support for the committee, Waziri appealed to the Police to accord the committee the needed support for smooth discharge of their duties.
He also urged the state government and Karu Local Government Area to continue to support PCRC operations for the safety of the people.
Gambo Allahyayi, Chief of Mararaban Gurku, Karu Local Government, Nasarawa State, said the PCRC had helped greatly in fostering police, community relations in the fight against crime.
He noted that the “A” Division of PCRC in the state had played a major role in curtailing crime, particularly in Mararaba.
According to him, one of such efforts is the seminar, which he said would further foster good relationship between security agencies particularly the police, and the community in fighting crime.
He said “the increased rate of crime in the country is of concern and all hands must be on deck to tackle it.”
PCRC is a community policing based organisation established by the Nigeria Police Force in 1984.
It is meant to ensure partnership between the Police and the community with a view to enhancing efficient and effective policing of communities in Nigeria.
