The Sultan of Sokoto, His Eminence Alhaji Muhammad Sa'ad Abubakar, has advocated community policing as a critical strategy f...
The Sultan of Sokoto, His Eminence Alhaji Muhammad Sa'ad Abubakar, has advocated community policing as a critical strategy for addressing insecurity across Nigeria, saying sustainable peace can only be achieved through collaboration between security agencies and local communities.
The Sultan made the call on Wednesday at the Arewa Awareness Summit on Unity Against Insecurity held at Arewa House, Kaduna.
Represented by the Chiroman Kano, Alhaji Adamu Lamido Sanusi, the monarch said community members, particularly youths, possess valuable knowledge of their environment and should be actively involved in intelligence gathering and crime prevention.
"I personally believe in community policing. To fight crime, we have to work with the people," he said.
The Sultan said he had consistently worked with imams, religious leaders, youth groups and other community stakeholders to promote peace and strengthen security within his domain.
"I personally work with the imams, religious leaders, youth groups and other community stakeholders to address the challenges in my area, working to ensure peace and security in the community," he said.
He described intelligence gathering as indispensable in combating crime, noting that residents often have better knowledge of suspicious activities within their communities than outsiders.
"The people in the community, especially the youth, are already in the community. They know the community and the areas better than anyone else. You are able to gather more information through collaboration with the community and through multiple agencies working together in the community," he added.
According to the Sultan, effective cooperation between communities and security agencies would significantly strengthen efforts to combat banditry, kidnapping and other criminal activities.
"So, this cooperation, this working together hand in hand, is highly important in fighting crime in our communities and in the country," he said.
The monarch also commended the organisers of the summit, describing the initiative as a timely platform for exchanging ideas and strengthening partnerships to tackle insecurity in Northern Nigeria.
"I commend this programme. It is a very good initiative to listen to, and I hope we will continue to listen and learn more from our key speakers," he said.
The Sultan added that he attended the summit to learn from experts and deepen his understanding of emerging security challenges.
"I am really glad to be here at this programme, and I am looking forward to learning from the key speakers. I really wish to learn from them as part of my daily job," he said.
Earlier, the Director-General of the Arewa for Peace, Unity, Cohesion and Development Initiative (ACI), Dr Abdullahi Idris, said the summit was organised to develop practical solutions to the security challenges confronting Northern Nigeria.
He said participants were expected to formulate strategies that would strengthen dialogue between communities and government while promoting collective action against insecurity.
Also speaking, Prof. Mohammed Tasiu Dan Sabo, who represented Prof. Ahmad Rufai, said military operations alone could not guarantee lasting peace.
"There has to be a link between security, justice, governance and livelihoods," he said, stressing that "lasting peace cannot be achieved through military operations alone."
The one-day summit brought together traditional rulers, security agencies, religious leaders, academics, civil society organisations and youth groups to deliberate on practical approaches to addressing insecurity across Northern Nigeria.
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