Minister of Police Affairs, Dr Muhammad Dingyadi has charged the newly elected executive of the Police Community Relations Committee (PCRC) to improve the cordial relationship between the police and the general public.
He made this known during the visit of the newly elected chairman of the Police Community Relations Committee led by its chairman, Alhaji Ibrahim Olaniyan to the ministry headquarters in Abuja.
The head of press of the ministry, Bolaji Kazeem said the minister pointed out that what is lacking presently is the inability of the general public and police ecosystem to have a cordial relationship that would boost the confidence of both sectors to improve the security of lives and properties in the country.
According to him, “We need to inform Nigerians that the police are for them and get the public to appreciate that they are working for the community. This is very important and it is only when we are able to say the police are working diligently for this country and Nigerians are also appreciating what the police are doing that would improve the confidence of the public. What we need is to build and improve on good working relationships and encourage the public to appreciate the police.”
On the issue of the land for the PCRC in Jabi, the minister stated that his office is aware of the issues noting that they have no problem with the people temporarily occupying the space because they know the land belongs to the PCRC.
“This land belongs to PCRC and to the best of my knowledge, they came to the ministry to seek permission to do petty business on a temporary basis but I refused to grant them the permission and I told them to get in touch with the executive of the PCRC and if you are able to give them space to stay, it has to be on the agreement between your committee and them. I commend the new executive for taking the initiative to develop the land”, the minister added.
Earlier, Olaniyan had said the PCRC was ready to partner with the ministry to improve the existing relationship and informed the minister of the encroachment of the PCRC land in Jabi and the decision of the new executive to develop twin offices for the organisation.
He informed the ministry of the desire of the PCRC to make available 20,000 of their members across the nation to assist the police in traffic control without financial support from the government adding that what they required is training for their members to assist the police ecosystem.
In a related development, the minister has assured the National Civil Society of Nigeria of the readiness of the ministry to partner with them to ensure free, fair and credible elections in 2023.
