In this exclusive interview with ASHENEWS, the new Commissioner of Police in Sokoto state, Muhammadu Usaini Gumel talks about the importance of synergy among security agencies in the fight against the prevailing security challenges in Nigeria. EXCERPTS:
Sokoto is one of the states in Nigeria that is affected by insecurity, banditry and other crimes. From your assessment, how will you describe the the level of insecurity, especially minor crimes in Sokoto?
Let me start with a point of correction. Sokoto state is popularly known as the Seat of the Caliphate and is known for peace and tranquility; and lovingly when I arrived here, I met a segment of the people in Sokoto, especially in the metropolis enjoying their peace. I observed personally that the economic activities, social interactions are going on uninterrupted. Though you could be correct when you talked about insecurity because there is no society in the world that is free of crime and on that note you are right to say that there are pocket of insecurity in parts of Sokoto state. But the correction is let us not see Sokoto in general that is one of those states that is affected by insecurity. Insecurity is part of criminal activities that is existing in virtually all parts of West Africa or Africa as well as the eastern part where we use to come across these cases of banditry, kidnapping, cattle rustling and related offenses. By definition, crime has no boundary and by strategic location, Sokoto is located on the fringes of states that emerging crimes have been existing for many years – For example, Zamfara, Katsina, Kebbi State and the surrounding part of Niger Republic. So, by the strategic position of Sokoto, these criminals used to cross into the state, those eastern parts that have borders with this state and the Niger Republic commit crimes and get back there. We are presently doing investigation to know if they have any permanent camp in the state but from the reports that we are receiving from the Divisional Police Officers (DPOs) in the local governments areas neighbouring Niger Republic, most of the criminals use to come through different forest areas, commit havoc and get back to those places. So, we are doing our best. I am happy that you are here after the Assistant Inspector General of Police in charge of Sokoto Kebbi and Zamfara, only yesterday in his wisdom, invited all the commissioners of these three states. We discussed the nature of criminal activities in the states and we brainstormed to understand the crime pattern and to effectively see what we can do as collective effort to see that we push these criminals out of the entire zone.
…Cuts… before you go in to that; you came to Sokoto, can you tell us about those stakeholders that you have identified and probably contacted with a view to coming together to fight crimes in the state?
On assumption of office, critical stakeholders I identified and paid familiarisation visits to are the governor of the state, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal and our revered traditional ruler, His Eminence, Sultan Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar. You will agree that these are the number one critical stakeholders in the management of insecurity. My interactions with these personalities were heartwarming, especially because while the state governor assured the Police of the support of the government and people of the state, His eminence received us very well and also assured us of the support of the traditional institution in the state. I assured them that we are poised to do our best, we cannot do it alone; we need them as critical stakeholders to be with us and to see Police as their own. From our meeting, I become assured that we can do a lot together and we are definitely going to succeed.
How about synergy with other security agencies?
Oh sure. You know that is a sure thing to do. I have always believed in synergy. By default, for any security officer who wants to succeed, all the security agencies are primary critical stakeholders. Yes, the police is the lead in internal security operations but we also equally believe that we cannot do it alone. The organization has some challenges in terms of deficit of manpower, equipment and even capacity building. We need other security agencies to work together with; to understand ourselves and work together on the road map that will make us to have sustainable peace. So, I have paid working visit to the General Officer Commanding (GOC) 8 Division where all the military formation under his leadership were invited. We discussed what operation Hadarin Daji is doing and what the Garrison is also doing in synergy with the police. It was an existing synergy because that was part of the brief I received from my predecessor – that because of the synergy, in some cases we have to rely on the military equipment to penetrate some of the difficult terrains. I has the assurance of the GOC that they are there for us and that the Operation Hadarin Daji is also there to collaborate with the Police and get it right. I also also paid a working visit to the Air Force detachment commander who gave me the same assurance as that of the GOC. Similarly, the Director of the Department of State Security (DSS) and his management team interacted with us wholeheartedly. I left the DSS with full assurances to work with synergy. One of the exciting visits was that to the Correctional Service, where after our discussions, we undertook an inspection tour of the prison facilities in the state. We reviewed the strategy and there and then I gave them additional manpower to reinforce the existing security in the facility and with that when we know that our prison is also safe we came home with the belief that things will also get better. Equally, I also visited other formations including the Custom Service, the Office of the Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice of the state, the Chief Judge of Sokoto state and the State House of Assembly. We discussed synergy and collaboration in terms of personnel training, especially on evidence-based investigation with the Chief Judge which was assured. At the House of Assembly, we discussed legal frameworks that would tackle insecurity. The Deputy Speaker who received us, assured that the Assembly will put every legislation that is required in place to fight insecurity.
Interesting! You came to Sokoto and have noticed the crime pattern. Compared to other states where you have worked, is there any difference in pattern. And how are you planning to nip that in the bud?
The crime pattern generally in the country is a new trend. In the last century, nobody was talking about banditry and kidnapping. We hear of pockets of kidnapping maybe only in the oil states; Niger Delta areas when they kidnapped people for ransom, especially the oil workers (mostly foreigners). But this trend of kidnapping for ransom generally in the northern part of the country is an emerging trend. They are the same in the places I worked. Some 10 to 15 years back, we did not experience such incidents. So, terrorism and banditry patterns are the same anywhere – Kaduna, Sokoto, Katsina, Zamafara – because they are the same people; they move from one location to another. The only danger is that the youths growing up are now seeing it as a lucrative business and finding it very as lucrative. So, this is some of the reasons that I feel that we need to partner with even religious institutions, traditional institutions and the government to sensitise the members of the public to see that this thing is a crime even against our creator the Almighty God. Shedding blood is the worst crime ever by humanity. People should desist from it no matter how lucrative they think it is; they know that the end of it is hell fire; people should understand this and run away from this; parents should also work on their children to see that this thing is desisted. this is much of what we should be doing by now.
What new approaches are you going to introduce in fighting crimes?
I think there shouldn’t be any much difference because we go on the same operation procedure. The Police have operational procedure of fighting crime, patrol visibility policing, community policing initiatives and others. I am not saying I am going to do better than my predecessor but definitely I will improve from where he stopped. The approaches definitely will change because we keep inviting the DPOs, the DCOs, all the tactical team from time to time to talk to them on ways to do it professionally. One of the things that I dislike corruption. By the time you are into crime fighting and your mind is into how to get money, you are definitely bound to compromise. So, I have told my men to keep away from corruption because it will not make them to do their work professionally.
