Effectiveness of Community Policing in Combating I...

Effectiveness of Community Policing in Combating Insecurity in Nigeria

Abstract

Insecurity is a topical issue in every nation but prevalent in Third World countries particularly in Nigeria. The inability and ineffectiveness of the security forces to combat insecurity and rising incessant crimes and killings necessitate the need for community policing as a solution strategy. The aim of this paper is to assess the effectiveness of community policing on insecurity in Nigeria. Secondary sources of data were primarily explored for the study. Extant literature on topical issues were reviewed and the Normative Sponsor theory was adopted. From the analysis, it is evident that community policing has positively reduced crime rates in several parts of Nigeria. However, challenges such as inadequate funding, public loss of trust and confidence, inadequate manpower, selective enforcement of law syndrome, poor community relations, ‘godfatherism’, lack of visionary schemes have frustrated every effort to improve and stabilize police-public cooperation which is a pre-condition for effective community policing. The study recommended that there is need for provisions of adequate funding on community policing by the government; there is also the need to establish proper communication channel between the police and the community heads like the traditional rulers and chiefs, among others.

Introduction

The ineffectiveness of the Nigerian police force exacerbated the increase in crime activities across the nooks and crannies of the Nigerian state. Insecurity is at its peak. The concentration of security issues at the centre is no longer realizable due to the nature and complexities of the Nigerian states. Nigeria has become a nightmare, threatened by kidnappers, bandits, secessionist movements, herder's crisis, Boko Haramist and lots more (Mbam et al., 2024). The country is plagued in the North-East by ISWAP, Boko Haram, and other Islamic terror groups; in the North-West by bandits and kidnappers, in the North-Central by genocidal Fulani herdsmen; and in the South-East by arsonists, kidnappers and killers camouflaging as Biafra secessionists, while the South-West is troubled by assorted criminals, thugs, and kidnappers. To ameliorate the incidence of crime, the federal government embarked on the criminalization of terrorism and passed the Anti-Terrorism Act in 2011, fundamental surveillance as well as investigation of criminal related offenses, heightening of physical security measures around the country aimed at deterring or disrupting potential attacks, strengthening of security agencies through the provision of security facilities and the development and broadcast of security tips in mass media (Nigeria-South Africa Chamber of Commerce Webinar on 28th January, 2021). Despite these efforts, the level of insecurity in the country is increasing at an alarming rate. Reports on killings, kidnappings, terrorism, banditry, cult violence, and armed robbery appear daily notwithstanding notable interdiction actions, impacting negatively on socioeconomic activities. For example, on 14th April 2014, about 275 schoolgirls were abducted by Boko Haram in the town of Chibok; the abduction of 300 schoolgirls and staff in Niger State; killings of Christians and Muslims in churches and mosques; and hundreds of killings by gunmen in Yelewata community in Benue, among others (BBC, 23rd November, 2025). A report by Global Rights stated that Boko Haram/ISWAP, gunmen, and insurgents killed 555 Nigerians and kidnapped 267 others between May 29 and July 3, 2023.