The Police Campaign Against Cultism and Other Vices(POCACOV), the initiative of the Nigeria Police Force under IGP Mohammed Abubakar Adamu aimed at saving Nigerian children and youths from the claws of cultism, substance/drug abuse, sexual and gender based violence, thuggery and violence and other vices through youth value reorientation, advocacy, awareness creation and sensitization as well as mentoring in line with the tenets of community oriented policing, have commenced its community peace building programme with its stakeholders drawn from members of the community across the country.
This was disclosed to newsmen after POCACOV virtual meeting with the National Coordinator POCACOV CSP Ebere Amaraizu and POCACOV State coordinators, ambassadors, stakeholders and POCACOV Volunteer Club members which was coordinated yesterday at the IGP M.A ADAMU Pocacov Resource Centre, Enugu.
According to the National Coordinator, “POCACOV as a community driven and oriented programme working with different stakeholders to achieve a safer school and community under its community peace building programme will be interfacing with members of the community to ensure there is maintenance at all times of a relationship with the public that gives reality to historic tradition that the police are the public and the public and to drive home the point that every community member must share the responsibility of preventing crime as if they were all volunteer members of the force.”
He further emphasized that “Police need trust, confidence and support of the community to advance justice and public safety solution and that is why POCACOV is working with different stakeholders in the community using community oriented policing approaches as well as galvanizing their support to achieve peace, safety and security and pointing out that the recently concluded Community Peace Building programme at County grammer School Ikwerre, Etche, Rivers state tagged “PEACE BE STILL” is a case in point and urged all coordinators, ambassadors, stakeholders and Volunteers to identify with the POCACOV Scheme.
“The police cannot be separated from the public because they are the public and the public are the police.”
Participants in the POCACOV Virtual meeting drawn from all the states across the federation expressed their willingness to work towards the sustenance of the POCACOV Community peace building for a safer School and community in line with Goal 16 (PEACE, JUSTICE AND STRONG INSTITUTION) of the Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs).
