- The Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Disu, has made a passionate appeal for an immediate end to the deep-seated mutual suspicion existing between law enforcement agencies and Nigerian citizens, stating that sustainable public safety cannot exist without bilateral trust.
- Represented by the Deputy Inspector-General of Police for the South-East, DIG Kenechukwu Onwuemelie, at a strategic stakeholders’ engagement in Awka, the police boss ordered all six regional DIGs across Nigeria to aggressively engage local communities to forge grassroots crime-fighting strategies.
- Highlighting cultism, armed robbery, kidnapping, and targeted killings as the primary drivers of regional insecurity, the police command strongly condemned the persistent “culture of silence” within local communities, which routinely shields criminal networks from exposure.
The Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Disu, has declared that the protracted war against domestic insecurity, mass abductions, and violent crimes across Nigeria can only be won when citizens and formal law enforcement operatives dismantle the long-standing wall of mutual suspicion that alienates them from one another.
Eko Hot Blog reports that speaking during a high-level strategic stakeholders’ engagement on security held on Tuesday in Awka, the Anambra State capital, the IGP emphasized that modern policing relies heavily on the organic flow of intelligence from local neighborhoods, which is currently being stifled by a profound lack of bilateral confidence.
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The security summit, meticulously organized to map out practical solutions to emerging security challenges in the South-East, was led on the IGP’s behalf by the Deputy Inspector-General of Police in charge of the zone, DIG Kenechukwu Onwuemelie.
Addressing an expansive audience composed of traditional rulers, community leaders, civil society organizations, transport unions, and informal vigilante groups, Onwuemelie stated that the police command is deeply committed to deepening its physical presence at the grassroots level.
He explained that similar zonal engagements are being simultaneously carried out across all six geopolitical zones under strict instructions from the IGP to uncover and neutralize localized criminal patterns.
A major focal point of the security chief’s address was a direct critique of the ongoing “culture of silence” prevalent across many agrarian and urban communities in the region.
The DIG lamented that this pervasive hesitation to report suspicious movements or expose known criminal elements within families and neighborhoods allows illegal syndicates to expand their footprints completely unchecked.
He specifically identified clashes among rival cult groups, highway robbery, kidnapping for ransom, targeted assassinations, and illicit drug trafficking as the most dangerous drivers of contemporary insecurity, urging the public to treat crime prevention as a collective civic duty rather than an exclusive responsibility of the state.
Crucially, the police hierarchy used the Awka summit to officially dispel lingering public narratives claiming that the Nigeria Police Force is deliberately sabotaging the structural establishment of state-controlled police formations.
DIG Onwuemelie clarified that the creation of state police forces is entirely a constitutional matter that rests squarely within the legislative jurisdiction of the National Assembly and the 36 State Houses of Assembly.
He noted that the process requires rigorous constitutional amendments before becoming an operational reality, and affirmed that the federal police will continue to operate strictly within existing legal frameworks while partnering with legally recognized community vigilantes to maintain law and order.
Supporting this stance, the Anambra State Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of Operations, DCP Ibrahim Ezekiel, delivering a message on behalf of State Commissioner CP Ikioye Orutugu, reiterated that a secure environment remains the absolute foundation for regional economic growth and social progress.
Following the interactive town hall sessions, the visiting DIG paid an official courtesy visit to the traditional ruler of Awka Kingdom, Igwe Gibson Nwosu, to formally secure the continuous backing of the traditional institution in grassroots intelligence gathering and local conflict resolution.
