The Commissioner of Police in Enugu State, Mr Balarabe Suleiman, says the police command in the state will partner the Nigeria Policing Programme (NPP) to strengthen community-policing in Enugu State.

Suleiman said this on Wednesday while receiving members of the Nigeria Policing Programme (NPP) team led by Mr Solomon Akpanufot, NPP State Intervention Leader in Enugu.

He decried the unending issues of land disputes and cultism in the state; while calling on synergy with NPP to tackle the menace effectively.

“However, we need you to put strength and resources with us to tackle the issue of land disputes and cultism in the state.

“We need massive enlightenment and public advocacy on these issues for its reduction.

“These two issues are so overwhelming in the state that no day passes without receiving people with either complaint of land dispute or cultism in my few days as the commissioner in the state.

“It is also clear that land disputes are civil matters, which police have nothing to do with as an organisation,’’ he said.

He commended NPP for its robust programme in training and re-training of police personnel as well as marketing the Nigerian Police in a positive light through it numerous programmes in the state.

The commissioner also lauded the team for its effort in strengthening community-policing and bringing various stakeholders closer to the police for effective crime fighting.

The commissioner noted that his office would give the NPP project all the needed assistance to succeed for the betterment of the state and the country at large.

Earlier, Akpanufot said that the NPP had done extensive security and community-policing training as well as election duty training for officers and men of the command.

He said that NPP, being a British High Commission funded programme, had helped in strengthening the existing community-policing mechanism and reach in the state.

“Apart from the extensive seminars for training purpose, we also engage in radio and television enlightenment of the residents on the need to support and join in the policing of their neighbourhoods.

“NPP has also keyed into most crime-reduction programmes of the command and joined in the election duty training of police officers and men in the command.

“We have trained other policing stakeholders to be effective in their various roles meant to assist the police and the command has achieved a crime-free society,” he said.

The pilot states for the domestication of the community-policing framework under NPP include Borno, Enugu, Kano and Lagos.

The Central Police Station in Enugu had been chosen as the pilot division for NPP projects in Enugu State.

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