The Deputy Inspector-General of Police responsible for the North-West Zone, Sulaiman Mohammed Abdul, has warned Jigawa State that its reputation as one of the region’s most peaceful states was under threat from criminal networks being displaced from more heavily contested areas in neighboring states, and that sustaining that peace required communities to become active partners in intelligence gathering rather than passive beneficiaries of police operations.
Abdul, speaking at a town hall in Dutse under the theme of shared responsibility in preventing trans-border criminality, said the changing security dynamics across the North-West demanded greater vigilance particularly in border communities where weak surveillance created opportunities for criminal networks to operate across jurisdictional lines. He said the police could not achieve sustainable peace without the active collaboration of traditional rulers, religious leaders, government institutions, civil society organizations, the media, and ordinary citizens.
He outlined six strategic priorities underpinning the Nigeria Police Force’s internal security approach: intelligence-led and technology-driven policing; accountability and human rights compliance; community policing and public trust; inter-agency collaboration; operational specialization; and improved personnel welfare. He called on community leaders to support these priorities through credible intelligence sharing and urged the media to practice responsible journalism that did not inadvertently serve the interests of criminal networks by amplifying their activities or spreading unverified information.
