Former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, has called on Nigerians to embrace ‘collective’ policing in order to check crime and criminality in the society.

According to ceoafrica, Obasanjo also beckoned on well-to-do individuals to support the Nigeria Police towards ensuring a crime-free society, admitting that the police are facing difficult task.

He said this yesterday during the maiden meeting of the Ogun State chapter of the Eminent Peoples’ Forum (EPF), and the launching of Police Complaint Rapid Response Unit and Change Begins with Me campaign, held at the June 12 Cultural Centre, Kuto, Abeokuta.

The former president who described EPF as a good initiative from the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, said policing was a collective responsibility of everyone in the society.

He said, “This initiative is a very good one. The work of policing our community, local government, state and country is not the work of the police alone, it is for all of us.

“Let us all engage in helping the police to secure our communities. Police have a very difficult task.

Obasanjo noted that for Nigeria Police to turn a new leaf and make the ‘Change Begins with Me’ campaign successful, the general public must join them in making sure that they give them timely information to nip crime in the bud.