By Baba Shehu Oscu, Bauchi
The newly deployed Commissioner of Police to Bauchi State, Habu Adamu Sani, has said journalists are critical stakeholders in peace-building.
He said he was not unmindful of the role Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) play as a linking organization between the government and the governed.
Sani was speaking when he paid a familiarization visit to the Bauchi State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ).
According to him, the purpose of the visit was to familiarize himself with the NUJ and appreciate the support, promoting peace and unity in the state and the country.
The Police boss said: “There are a lot of issues that the government may not know, but because of your investigation ability at the grassroots, you come out with certain information that are very critical in security project.
“So whoever ignores such organization as the NUJ and try to remain on his own will be missing a lot in building his own organization or in trying to achieve his own mandate,” he said.
The commissioner told journalists, “Having realized the role you play, I feel pertinent and important for me to visit this office and see you, so that at the end of point in time we are able to see each other.”
Sani while noticing that journalists in Bauchi State are very cooperative and helpful, further observed that there are a lot of things police may not necessarily be able to see or hear, but through the efforts of the media they will be acquainted with such and take rapid response situation for the much desired peace.
He, therefore, assured the union that the police will continue to interface with journalists for the cordial relationship between the two organizations, stressing however that security of lives and property is not the responsibility of security agencies alone, but the whole stakeholders and citizens generally.
Sani appealed to the general public for cooperation and give the police the necessary information that could assist in creating the enabling environment for peaceful co-existence.
The Bauchi NUJ chairman, Ibrahim Mohammed Malam Goje recalled that it was the second time in the history of the union that a police commissioner was visiting journalists.
Malam Goje assured that the union will continue to partner with the police and other security agencies for the maintenance of the relative peace in the state, stressing that Bauchi has low crime rate.
