While the Nigerian Armed Forces continue to address Boko Haram insurgency in volatile northeast, the Nigeria Police Force has commenced peacebuilding process among residents of Yobe State.
The Yobe State Police Command over the weekend took the rebuilding process to academic institutions across the state, by preaching community confidence and requesting full participation of the people in the process.
Led by the State Commissioner of Police (CP), Mr Sumonu Abdulmaliki, the peacebuilding team visited the Federal Government Girls College, the College of Education Technical all in Potiskum and the Yobe-Turkish College in Mamudo.
While in the schools, the CP held talks with students and also discussed with school authorities and other stakeholders the need for full participation in the peacebuilding process by keying into the community policing policy of the Nigeria police.
He encouraged the students to consider Police as a chosen career, saying it will enable them contribute in the nation’s building by maintaining law and order as well as protecting the lives and property of the citizenry.
The police in Nigeria, he stressed, are currently building community confidence around intelligence gathering which he believed could only succeed with the support of the people.
Mr Abdulmaliki said the campaign would be taken to all the knock and crannies of the state.
“We want everyone to participate in the peacebuilding process that will restore lasting peace in this part of the country,” he said.
The Police Commissioner further cautioned them against the use of drugs, saying “it will ruin your career and have adverse effects on the development of the country”.
While at the Federal Government Girls College in Potiskum, the CP in company of the Principal, Mrs Charity Wakawa, went round the surrounding area with a view to providing the required security to the school.
A stakeholder and Provost of the College of Education Technical in Potiskum, Mr Modu Mohammed, appreciated the initiative which he believes will help achieve the needed peace in Nigeria.
According to the police, the peacebuilding process, which will also help the force restore the confidence of residents of Yobe communities in the police, will continue across all schools in the state to ensure it achieves the desired purpose.