Democratic Socialist Movement

For Struggle, Solidarity and Socialism in Nigeria

By - DSM

COMMUNITY POLICING ADVISORY COMMITTEE CANNOT EFFECTIVELY FIGHT CRIME IN THE ABSENCE OF MASS PARTICIPATION OF THE COMMUNITY PEOPLE AND MASSIVE JOBS CREATION

  • Only a Socialist Society Can Eradicate Poverty, Crime and Police Brutality

On Thursday, June 25, 2020 the Community Policing Advisory Committee of the Ajeromi-Ifelodun Local Government Area was inaugurated .The mandate of the inaugurated committee is to assist the police and the local government authorities in fighting crime by identifying security threats in the community amongst others. While we welcome all genuine efforts at tackling insecurity in the community, it is utopian to conclude that such a security committee can resolve the challenges of insecurity.

By Moshood Oshunfurewa

The increasing rate of crime in Ajegunle and in society at large is a product of years of the collapse of industries, job losses, growing poverty and hopelessness. The devil is finding jobs for many in its workshop because of massive unemployment and socio-economic insecurity. These economic problems were created and sustained by capitalist policies, especially the neo-liberal model which entails privatisation, deregulation, concession, etc., and prioritizes the profit of a privileged few at the expense of the needs of the working masses and the poor.

We condemn the harassment and extortion of innocent Ajegunle people by some police officers and other security forces like OP MESA and demand an end to it. We demand a living wage and a Police union for rank and file police officers to enable them to effectively engage the government for provision of better working conditions. We demand the abolition of repressive secret/spy police such as the DSS without loss of jobs to the rank and file. However, we demand that policing must be under the democratic control of the community people and for a democratically controlled non-sectarian defence committee set up by the community people.

The major role of the police and military is to defend the exploitative profit interest of the capitalist class (rich and powerful). This capitalist class controls the economy and politics and consciously exploits and dominates the vast majority working class and the poor. The bourgeois state claims that the police is set up to maintain law and order but as we have it today the majority of the police officers are presently guarding the rich few and their investments. In some cases, the police fight crime but it prioritizes the interest of the rich few and is incapable of eradicating insecurity because it is linked to economic crises that are created by the capitalist profit system.

The only way to begin to tackle insecurity nationally is through mass employment, provision of free quality education for all, and implementation of free social welfare programmes. But these are not possible and sustainable on the basis of capitalism. To end and eradicate police brutality and economic insecurity, the working class and the poor will have to struggle through an independent mass working class revolutionary party to overthrow and abolish capitalism and its state apparatus such as the police, military etc, and also take the means of production (commanding heights of the economy) into public ownership under democratic control and management of the working masses.

This is the only way collective resources can be best utilized to create jobs on a massive scale, address economic insecurity and meet the basic needs of all. Since society is run transparently and democratically devoid of capitalist profit interest and repressive apparatus, the crime rate will come down drastically and real community policing under the democratic control of the working masses can easily and affectively address crime until it is completely eradicated. So, we call on workers and youth to join the DSM in order to struggle for a socialist transformation of Nigeria.