The Inspector-General of Police, IGP Mohammed Abubakar Adamu, Thursday officially launched its nationwide flagship programme tagged ‘Police Campaign Against Cultism and Other Vices (POCACOV)’ which is aimed at curbing the menace of cultism, violent crimes and other vices among the youths.
At the national launch held at NAF Conference Centre and Suites, Abuja, the IGP disclosed that the initiative would address the root cause of crimes rather than concentrating on its manifestation.
According to the Police boss: “POCACOV is an initiative that is aimed at saving our youths from the claws of cultism and other vices through advocacy, awareness creation, sensitization and re-orientation, and school and community outreaches, amongst others.
“The programme is informed, firstly, by the realisation that there is a correlation between cultism and other violent crimes involving our youth population. Secondly, is that deep-rooted and socially-driven crimes like cultism are best mitigated through a strategy that is premised on community policing practices which encourages building partnerships towards addressing delinquencies that threaten our communal values.
“It is also a way of recognizing the fact that the core law enforcement approach is no longer enough in combating these sets of crimes.”
He further stressed the need for all stakeholders in the country to collaborate with the police in implementing this campaign, saying “to this end, the police have inaugurated some POCACOV ambassadors to serve as influencers to the youths.”
“Also, the force has inaugurated the NYSC/POCACOV Community Development Service to help in deepening the message at the grassroots level,” he added.
POCACOV has recorded a huge rate of success since it was officially launched in August 2019.
