The Police Community Relations Committee, PCRC has called on Nigerians to support the Nigeria Police Force to achieve a better service delivery to the community and to downgrade insecurity in Nigeria.
National Chairman of PCRC, Alhaji Mogaji Olaniyan made the call on Thursday, 30th January 2025 at the PCRC opening-year ceremony with the theme, Strengthening The PCRC System For Optimum Service Delivery held in Abuja.
The PCRC opening-year ceremony is designed for stakeholders to use the PCRC platform to suggest ways the community can support the Nigeria Police Force.
According to Olaniyan, "Criticizing the police from the fence cannot solve our security challenges but a collective community resolve to address it can go a long way to downgrading insecurity in Nigeria.
The National Chairman said the PCRC decided to start 2025 with a four-day executive training that ushered in this opening year ceremony in recognition of the role of IGP Egbetokun in providing stability for the PCRC through several other measures.
He stressed that by the choice of the theme, Strengthening the PCRC System For Optimum Service Delivery, the PCRC is making an avowed commitment to triple its efforts in service to the nation and humanity by drawing from experiences and lessons learned over the past 40 years to deepen collaboration with stakeholders to support the police and sister security agencies to address community and national security challenges.
The National Chairman also added that in the two years of his administration, he had toured around 34 out of the 36 states of Nigeria to assess PCRC's presence and functionality, noting that in the next 10 days, the committee shall be visiting Bayelsa, one of the two remaining states, to enable them to take the right decisions on the PCRC there. We have made it clear to our people that the years of docile and rudderless PCRC are over.
We have demonstrated this by expanding our scope of partnerships and reaching out to communities and remote villages to create Unit PCRC for inclusive police-community collaboration. We have also created different Units of PCRC at the national level to address specific needs assessment.
On the PCRC ethical standard, he said the committee established the PCRC Monitoring Unit, which was flagged off for operations by the IGP through the office of the Force PRO, in March last year.
He said the PCRC Monitoring Unit has since proved to be a great human and organisational asset for the association. "We initiated 17 university scholarships to police orphans through one of our patrons, Apostle Chibuzor Chinyere of the Apostolic Fire Ministry, Port Harcourt."
Olaniyan further revealed that the committee had established the Diaspora PCRC to counter negative narratives about Nigeria and the Nigeria Police Force.
"Working with the Diaspora Commission, we established the Diaspora PCRC to check the excesses and unguarded criticisms of Nigeria and the Nigeria Police by our brothers and sisters abroad. It is yielding positive results."
In his remarks, the Special guest of honour, the Inspector General of Police, IGP Kayode Egbetokun ably represented by AIG Bernard Igwe assured the national chairman of the PCRC, and the other members of the PCRC, as well as, the executive members, that the IGP will support the PCRC, to grow from strength to strength and that is why he has supported the new duty of the national headquarters.
The IGP said that all commissioners of police, all regional police officers, and all area commanders, have been duly informed to provide security, as well as support the PSCRC in the respective area of responsibilities so that PCRC can move forward.
He said in conjunction with the police officer's commission has been changing the narrative of policing in Nigeria, silently, delicately and authoritatively, they have been changing it. That is what has given us the leverage to do more policing for Nigeria and Nigeria as a whole.
In his goodwill message,the Chairman of the event, the Chairman Police Service Commission PSC, Retired DIG Hashimu Salihu Argungu said the Police Community Relations Committee has long been instrumental in transforming policing through grassroots engagements, conflict resolution, and proactive crime prevention in Nigeria.
Argungu noted that in an era where trust and collaboration between law enforcement and communities are pivotal, the PCRC stands as a beacon of hope a bridge fostering mutual understanding and shared responsibility.
"Yet, evolving societal challenges demand innovative strategies to enhance transparency, accountability, and inclusivity. Strengthening this system is not merely an option but a necessity for equitable service delivery and sustainable peace," he said
He urged them to focus on empowering sub-committees within the PCRC with digital tools, fostering youth and women's participation, and embedding community feedback into policing strategies.
The Police Service Commission under my leadership pledges unwavering support to initiatives that prioritize people-centred policing.
As you engage in these deliberations, remember that every policy refined and every relationship nurtured here will ripple across neighbourhoods, inspiring confidence and safety across Nigeria.
The highlight of the opening year ceremony is the induction of National Patrons Evang. Happiness Etuk has sponsored more than 20 police children between the ages of 10 and 15 years on his TrisoNet Metaverse Community scholarship to the university level.
