A retired Assistant Inspector-General of Police (AIG), Chief Tunji Alapini, Wednesday advocated for a fundamental shift in Nigeria’s security architecture.
Alapini made the call in Ibadan, Oyo state, while delivering the keynote lecture at the 19th anniversary celebration of Splash FM 105.5 and the 87th birthday of the Ekerin Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Murtala Adebayo Akande, at the Trenchard Hall of the University of Ibadan.
The ex-police chief said there is also the need for the authorities to embrace intelligence-led policing as it will strengthen inter-agency collaboration and deepen community participation to effectively tackle the country’s growing insecurity.
The retired AIG while speaking on the theme, “Rising Insecurity in the Land: Trends, Drivers, Regional Dynamics in the South west, and expectations from stakeholders,” said security is the bedrock of national development.
He warned that no society can thrive where lives and property are constantly under threat and noted that Nigeria’s security challenges have evolved beyond isolated incidents to include terrorism, banditry, kidnapping, cybercrime, cultism, communal conflicts, arms trafficking and organised criminal networks.
He added that preventive intelligence gathering must replace the current reactionary approach, saying, the South-west, once regarded as one of the country’s safest regions, is increasingly experiencing highway kidnappings, forest-related crimes and cult violence, while Oyo state’s strategic position as a transit corridor makes it particularly susceptible to criminal activities.
Attributing the worsening insecurity to youth unemployment, economic hardship, poor intelligence coordination, corruption, delays in the justice system, proliferation of illegal arms and porous borders, Chief Alapini recommended the establishment of structured community intelligence networks, wider deployment of surveillance technology, hotspot policing, improved emergency response systems and stronger collaboration among security agencies.
The Ekerin Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Murtala Adebayo Akande, while speaking through his son, Mr. Bayo Akande Jr., expressed gratitude to God for the grace to celebrate his 87th birthday.
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