The Obi of Onitsha, Igwe Nnaemeka Alfred Achebe, says that local knowledge is critical to effective policing and raised concerns over the centralized security operations under the state-controlled Agunechemba structure in Anambra state.
The Obi told Realnews in an interview that effective security should begin at the grassroots, warning that centralised control of community security structures could weaken the use of local knowledge in crime prevention.
Achebe said that communities were better positioned to identify security threats because their members understood local relationships, knew the people living among them and could recognise individuals involved in criminal activities.
“Things like security should begin at the grassroots level, because at the community level, in Onitsha, we know ourselves,” he said.
The monarch disclosed that Onitsha previously operated two community vigilante groups, but their activities were affected by a state government policy placing community security operations under the state-controlled Agunechemba structure.
He said the change had reduced his community’s direct influence over the security personnel operating within Onitsha.
“Now they have Agunechemba. I have less impact on them, but we still watch out to see how far they can perform,” he said.
He argued that residents possessed valuable information that could help prevent crime and identify individuals involved in criminal activities.
According to him, community leaders regularly reported suspected drug-related activities and other security concerns to government authorities.
However, he complained that such reports did not always receive the response expected by residents.
“We have drug addicts, we have peddlers also. We keep reporting to the government authorities and they do nothing about it,” he said.
The monarch maintained that local knowledge was important in addressing such challenges because community members were familiar with the people and circumstances around them.
He compared the approach with policing arrangements in countries where he had lived, including the United States and Britain, arguing that security operations at local and regional levels could complement broader policing structures.
His position was that community security should not necessarily operate independently of the police, but should work within a system that allows local intelligence to contribute meaningfully to law enforcement.
He recalled that community policing had featured prominently in national security discussions during the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari.
According to him, funds were allocated for training local vigilante personnel in basic policing procedures, and members of his community were sent to Port Harcourt for training.
He said the proposed community policing arrangement subsequently failed to materialise.
“Our people were sent to Port Harcourt for training, and got trained, but the police committee proceeding just disappeared. It was never inaugurated,” he said.
He added that the debate over decentralising security has continued, even as government policies increasingly concentrated authority within state-controlled structures.
The traditional ruler said that a proper assessment of the current arrangement would require time, acknowledging that the situation was not straightforward.
“Well, it’s not that black and white,” he said.
While acknowledging that it was too early to deliver a definitive assessment of the new arrangement, the monarch raised concerns about the conduct of some personnel operating under the state-controlled structure.
He alleged that masked personnel targeted commercial tricycle operators at night, collecting money from them despite the absence of a general curfew.
According to him, the community’s reduced control over the security personnel has complicated its ability to direct their activities.
“We still pay their salaries as a committee. We don’t direct them because their command comes from the state,” he said.
His concerns centred on the relationship between financial responsibility, operational control and accountability.
The monarch suggested that a security structure would be more effective if it combined the authority and resources of government with the local knowledge of the communities it served.
