Special Constables under the community policing scheme in Edo State who graduated on Saturday will be given life insurance policies.
Governor Godwin Obaseki, who made the disclosure at the graduating ceremony of 877 Special Constables under the community policing project of the Nigeria Police Force in the state, added that the first challenge confronting his administration as he took the oath of office for a second term on November 12 was insecurity.
The 877 Special Constables were trained at the Police Training School, Ogida, Benin City to strengthen the Edo State Police Command in the area of community policing.
The 877 Special Constables, Obaseki added, were part of the first batch of the 2,000 constables to be trained for community policing in collaboration with the Nigeria Police Force in Edo State.
“The idea of community policing is not new to us as an administration. This concept which has led to the recruitment, training and subsequent graduation of the special constables was one of the ideas I discussed with the present Inspector General of Police, Adamu Mohammed, when he served as the Assistant Inspector General (AIG) of Police Zone 5 in Benin City, several years ago,” he said.
The passing out parade of the 877 personnel, the governor noted would legitimise the structure that started in the state, and enjoined the Special Constables to see themselves as people called to serve their various communities in the area of local policing.
“You have been recruited to take policing activities in your communities. You will join the Edo State Government to work for the Edo people. We are not bosses but here to serve Edo people,” he told the graduands.
Governor Obaseki assured that his administration would invest more on security as in collaborating with the Federal Government, promising that the administration would also collaborate with the Nigeria Police Force on the facilities at the Police Training School.
“These facilities will become busy for us as we will use it to train all the cadres that will participate in all our security architecture. We will collaborate with the Nigeria Police Force in refurbishing the facilities and commit more resources to training more security personnel,” he assured.
“The state government is interested in your affairs and development. A way to show this is to provide free health insurance to all of you. We will also provide life insurance for each and every one of you,” he further promised.
“Working with the Division, we would ensure the intelligence gathered by you, collaborating with the Police, will be effectively used to check crime in the state. You are graduating today into a society that is challenged, security-wise. Your first assignment is to join us and other federal security agencies to arrest all the inmates that broke out from our Correctional Center. We would give all the support for all of them to be arrested and returned to prison,” he added.
The Inspector-General of Police (IGP) represented by the Edo State Commissioner of Police, Johnson Kokumo, commended the governor for adopting the concept of community policing to protect lives and property in the state.
“As you go out today into the society, you are expected to work with the local police authority and police your area of responsibility as indigenes of your respective communities where you shall be deployed,” the IGP said.
He charged the special constables to make good use of their training and respect the fundamental right of the citizens.
The Commandant of the Police Training School, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Jonathan Modi, said the 877 graduands received training on basic principles and core values of community policing which were vital tenets in democratic policing.
“The course contents span through the concept of community policing, police community relations, general duties of the Nigeria Police, the constitution, human rights, intelligence-led policing, disciplinary procedures, practical police duties and rules of the engagement in police operations, among others,” Modi said.
YOU SHOULD NOT MISS THESE HEADLINES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
ICYMI: CBN Lists Business Activities Eligible For N75bn Youth Investment Fund
THE Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has revealed main business activities and sectors in the Nigerian economy that are eligible to access its N75 billion Youth Investment Fund…
#EndSARS: Fr Mbaka Asks Buhari, Past Leaders To Apologise To Nigerians
Controversial Catholic priest and Spiritual Director of Adoration Ministry, Enugu, Nigeria, (AMEN), Rev Fr Ejike Mbaka, has taken a swipe at President Muhammadu Buhari and past leaders of the country demanding that the President should apologize to the country, especially the youth, on behalf of himself and his predecessors, for causing Nigerians so much pain…
and then