The Asagba of Asaba, Epiphany Azinge, has urged the police commissioner in Delta to revive the Asaba Community-Police Relations Committee to strengthen security operations.

Mr Azinge made the call when police commissioner Samuel Erale paid him a courtesy visit on Tuesday in Asaba. He said the committee, established to promote information exchange and intelligence sharing between the police and the community, had become inactive.

The traditional ruler said reviving the committee would bridge gaps in police-community relations, particularly as the country considers establishing state police.

Mr Azinge commended Mr Erale and his team for restoring order at Koka Roundabout, which the traditional ruler said had become a security concern. He clarified that the situation was not related to cultism, but involved the destitute living under the flyover, whose presence raised concerns about peace and security.

The Asagba expressed concern over the alleged transportation of people from different parts of the country in trailers and their abandonment at Koka Junction, Cable Point and Mile 5. He urged the commissioner of police to monitor the trend, adding that community vigilante groups had also been tracking the movement of such persons, including in satellite communities.

On land disputes, Mr Azinge urged the police boss to distinguish civil and commercial disagreements from criminal offences, warning against criminalising land-related matters.

“We should not be criminalising land disputes. They are commercial and civil issues. So, why criminalise them?” he said.

Mr Azinge, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria and professor of law, said land disputes were not inherently criminal but could involve allegations of offences such as illegal possession of firearms and attempted murder. He urged the commissioner to refer appropriate land disputes to the traditional institution for amicable resolution through established community procedures.

The ruler also appealed to Mr Erale to address cases involving the arrest and transfer of Asaba residents to Abuja over land disputes, sometimes without the commissioner’s knowledge or consent.

On petitions from residents, Mr Azinge advised the commissioner to examine their merits carefully and refer appropriate cases to the traditional institution for community intervention. He assured the Delta police command of the traditional institution and community’s support in combating crime and sustaining peace and order.

Mr Erale commended the Asagba for his efforts to maintain peace and order in the kingdom, saying that the command had recorded progress in tackling cultism and drug-related crimes. He added that Koka Junction had been cleared of miscreants and the destitute, while acknowledging the increasing cases of land disputes and frivolous petitions.

Mr Erale said the police lacked jurisdiction to adjudicate land matters, which fell within the courts’ purview, and sought the traditional ruler’s intervention to resolve disputes distracting the command from fighting crime.

(NAN)