Hybrid Policing: The New Structure of Policing for Crime Control in Contemporary Nigeria
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18485/fb_ijcss.2025.1.2.10Keywords:
crime control, community, hybrid policing, non-state security actors, state securityAbstract
The internal security crisis remains one of the most pressing challenges in Nigeria, where rising incidences of armed robbery, kidnapping, terrorism, communal violence, and banditry overwhelmed the capability of the formal state security. However, several serious concerns have engaged the minds of scholars and well-meaning individuals in the country, namely that state policing is insufficient, mistrusted, and lacks legitimacy. These concerns include Nigeria's weak security infrastructure, with the lowest police-to-population ratios globally. This has created a policing gap that hybrid structures attempt to fill. It then became imperative that hybrid policing is the non-state actor that understands the cultural and religious dynamics of the communities. The hybrid policing is not a replacement for state policing but a complementary mechanism shaped by Nigeria’s weak security infrastructure, cultural systems, and governance realities. By institutionalizing, hybrid policing may gather intelligence more effectively than the formal state security. The methodology used in this study was a desk-based library method, in which the knowledge gained from various literature, as well as conceptual, theoretical, and empirical studies reviewed, forms the basis for the conclusions and recommendations. The paper recommended that hybrid policing actors should be allowed to operate within the framework of law. Also, the Governments should adopt it as a practical response to security crises, balancing limited formal state security capacity. To this end, peace, safety, and security are necessary for development and the attainment of a good quality of life in any human society.
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