The post-insurgency era in Borno is witnessing juvenile delinquencies, drug abuse, phone theft, and other misconduct perpetrated by minors and criminal gangs in the state. The presence of criminal gangs in some parts of the state poses a risk to the inhabitants of the area. Both children and adults are affected by this heinous act.
Borno is currently at the early stage of the post-insurgency era with governments and other stakeholders in the security architecture focusing on various peacebuilding efforts to avoid a fallback to the state of violent extremism experienced during the peak of the Boko Haram insurgency. According to the United Nations, terrorist groups such as Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), Al-Qaida, and Boko Haram have shaped the image of violent extremism. These groups’ message of intolerance — religious, cultural, social —has multidimensional consequences for many regions of the world. Holding territory and using social media for real-time communication of their atrocious crimes, they seek to challenge the shared values of peace, justice, and human dignity.
Such violent extremism can become part of one’s belief system when it is not checked, condemned, and disapproved by family, the larger community, and the state itself.
Community Response
The presence of the Police Community Relations Committee (PCRC) across communities became necessary as one of the peacebuilding efforts by the Nigerian Police to strengthen community-police relations in terms of intelligence gathering and cooperation to ensure public safety. The PCRC complements and serves as a watchdog across communities to reduce crime and guarantee safety in the society.
According to the Borno State PCRC Chairman, Abatcha Umar Nanabe, “Intelligence information from the public plays an important role in ensuring that the police carry out its duties effectively.”
The PCRC is responding to cases of Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG), juvenile delinquencies, and other criminalities by sensitising parents and ward heads to eradicate or minimise social vices to the barest minimum and if these crimes are committed, PCRC reports it to the Police for prompt action.
So far, the PCRC has visited and sought collaborations with more than ten governmental and private organisations, as well as communities to strengthen security operations in Borno. Through this, in 2022, the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of Gwange police station engaged in a dialogue with traditional and ward representatives, parents and PCRC members on the prevention of juvenile delinquency, acts of brutality and stopped youths from roaming about with knives, broken bottles, bow and arrows and since then cases of such are less reported.
This was also attained at Tashan Baga. Understanding that the Nigerian Police operations are underfunded and this often affects their ability to be proactive in terms of preventing crime, Abatcha highlighted that, sometimes, the PCRC supports the force by fueling their patrol vehicles.
While at Jiddari Polo community, The ward head Abba Bulama said their stakeholders’ engagement with PCRC became a plus to their already existing dialogue techniques. It built a relationship between them and the police to tackle issues.
According to Abba Bulama, PCRC made them understand that security depends on everyone thereby formed their own community and named it ” Jiddari for Peace Community” This year.
The people of Jiddari also built a temporary office and purchased two patrol motorcycles for their CJTFs for quick response. Fueling and maintenance of the motorcycle and office are based on demand which is all financed through a monthly contribution by the community.
Abba Bulama appealed for more support and advocacy from PCRC to continue sensitising people as thuggery is rampant and they are early warning signs to prevent unforeseen circumstances.
More Synergy…
The Public Relations Officer of PCRC Zone 15 in Borno, Ismail Abdulkadir said that in 2022, with collaboration from the British Council and Yerwa Peace, a Non-Governmental Organisation, they organised a town hall meeting at Gomari Primary School where about 500 youths were engaged to lay down their arms (knives, daggers, bows and arrows) and these youth pledged never to return to their old ways.
“PCRC received a lot of complaints about youth engagement in organised crimes – phone snatching, rape, and housebreaking to steal during that year. Thus, town hall meetings were organised regularly to sort these out as part of our mandate”.
In May 2023, the Borno State Police Command paraded 110 suspects and linked this achievement to some of their engagements with the Police Community Relations Committee. The PCRC also raised an alarm on drug abuse among the underage, who posed as Almajiris around the metropolis. Still in May, Jiddari Polo witnessed the formation of criminal gangs who kill at will. An alarm was raised by the community and the issue was sorted.
Similarly, in April 2023, some youths at New GRA Maiduguri arrested three armed robbers and handed them over to the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corp (NSCDC) for interrogation and transfer to the Nigeria Police for prosecution.
PCRC has members in each division from the 27 local government areas of the state. These members take charge in their communities by collaborating with the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF), vigilantes, hunters, and the Police. They discourage people from taking laws into their hands but rather report issues to the police or sister agencies.
Hope for Order
Some parts of Jere LGA in Borno, Old Maiduguri and Bayan quarters still experience criminalities, allegedly perpetrated by youth groups. This is evident in late May, 2023 whereby an Internally Displaced Person (IDP) from Monguno was stabbed to death. It is hoped that if the public see police as their friends and continuously report incidents or intelligence information gathering to the nearest police station in their communities, such ugly incidents can be prevented.
This statement was corroborated by Bulama Musa from an IDP Camp in Old Maiduguri, Jere LGA. According to Musa, the presence of PCRC Members in their area has lessened clashes among youth groups except in Bayan quarters.
He noted that security personnel and the community members are always on ground to intervene swiftly. This was also the case at Jiddari Polo, a different settlement.
CJTF and community members serve as first responders to curtail chaos since 2022.
A community member from Jiddari polo, Abdulrazak Abdullahi said they mostly refer cases to stakeholders and traditional rulers and refer issues that involve the use of knives or related objects to GRA Police Division for redress.
To Aisha Abubakar from Polo, PCRC served as their mouthpiece in the community.
“There is a developing area around polo that has been embedded with thieves entering houses to pack belongings, but after the CJTF intervention, at least two or more culprits are caught everyday.
“The PCRC has made sure that no one is scared of the police. It’s like a safe room for people to take their problems there,” Abubakar said.
For Umar Abubakar who lost a brother in a gang attack, although knows nothing about PCRC, he believed since they are for security, they should be in every nook and cranny of the state.
The PCRC in Borno should leverage on their partnership with security agencies and stakeholders to oust violence in the state, while calling on parents and guardians to inculcate good upbringing in children, raise awareness on effective policing and break the culture of silence for seamless operation of security agencies.
The government should also continuously intervene in controlling unruly behaviours exhibited by children between 12-17 years and adults around river banks and the zoo during festivities.
Frequent assessment of areas considered to be hot spots for crime will also be a plus in sustaining peace.
Meanwhile, this report identified that some people joined PCRC in order to use the committee’s Identity Card to move around with tinted glasses at will without being questioned by the police contrary to PCRC’s mandate.
Luckily, PCRC has changed its membership form, identity card, and other modes of operation to curtail issues of impersonation and effective policing across Nigeria.
This story has been made possible by Nigeria Health Watch with support from the Solutions Journalism Network, a nonprofit organization dedicated to rigorous and compelling reporting about responses to social problems.