Community-Driven Security Wins In Delta Central As Abraka Model Proves Collaboration Is Key To Peace

In late 2025, Comrade Dr. Kelly Efemena Umukoro, a seasoned security consultant and respected Urhobo youth leader, held a strategic working engagement with the Assistant Inspector General of Police in charge of Zone 5, AIG Dogo Garba Salami. The engagement took place at the Zone 5 headquarters in Benin City, Edo State. It was not ceremonial. It was a deliberate, hard conversation focused on the worsening security challenges in Delta Central Senatorial District and, more importantly, on practical solutions that actually work on the ground.

Using Abraka, the university town in Ethiope East Local Government Area, as a clear case study, Dr. Umukoro made a fearless and unequivocal argument: the Nigeria Police Force cannot win the war against crime in isolation. 

According to him, intelligence from the people remains the single most powerful weapon against kidnappers, cultists, armed robbers and criminal gangs terrorising communities across Delta State. Where residents speak up early, criminals fail. Where communities remain silent or compromised, crime flourishes.

Abraka—once troubled by cult clashes, kidnappings and violent crime—has emerged as a reference point in Delta State for what is possible when communities take responsibility for their own security and work hand-in-hand with law enforcement. Through sustained cooperation between community leaders, local vigilantes, hunters, anti-cult groups, traditional institutions, university authorities and the divisional police, Abraka has recorded a significant reduction in violent crime compared to surrounding areas.

Real-time intelligence from residents has enabled swift police response, preemptive arrests, and the disruption of criminal networks before they strike. Academic activities and commercial life have stabilised because people chose collaboration over fear.

Dr. Umukoro used the engagement to commend the courage of local hunters who patrol forests and rural paths where criminals hide, youth-led anti-cult groups confronting radicalisation among young people, and rank-and-file police officers who put their lives on the line daily despite limited resources. He stressed that these frontline defenders of peace are often ignored, underfunded and undervalued, even though they carry the real burden of protecting lives and property. He called for better welfare, stronger logistics and sustained moral support for those doing the dangerous work of securing communities.

In his response, AIG Dogo Garba Salami welcomed the engagement and reaffirmed the commitment of the Nigeria Police Force to intelligence-led and community-partnered policing across Zone 5, which consists strictly of Edo and Delta States. He emphasised that sustainable security can only be achieved when traditional rulers, youth organisations, vigilante groups, religious leaders and civil society actively support law enforcement with credible and timely information. He assured that the police would continue to deepen engagement with communities and expand successful grassroots security models like Abraka across Delta Central.

The message from this engagement is blunt and unavoidable: security is not delivered from Abuja or state capitals alone. It is built street by street, village by village, through trust, cooperation and courage. Communities that wait passively for federal forces or political promises will continue to bury their dead. Communities that organise, share information and stand with security agencies reclaim their streets.

Nigeria’s security crisis will not be solved by slogans, press conferences or expensive equipment without grassroots support. The Abraka experience exposes a hard truth: criminals survive on community silence, fear and compromise. Once those are removed, their power collapses. Dr. Kelly Efemena Umukoro’s advocacy reinforces a reality many leaders avoid saying openly—security is everybody’s business, and neutrality in the face of crime is complicity.

Delta Central, the Urhobo nation and the Niger Delta at large cannot afford complacency. The Abraka model must not remain an exception or a talking point; it must become the standard. Information must flow, good actors must be supported, and criminals must be isolated until they have nowhere left to hide.