Tsakuwa: Kano community without police station

The people of Tsakuwa community in Dawakin Kudu Local Government Area in the southern part of Kano State are living without the watch of the police.

The community, which shares boundaries with Kumbotso and Wudil local government areas, located some few kilometres away from Kano metropolis, is in dire need of security presence, being one of the biggest and busiest places in the local government area.

It has a population of over 23,000 people who are largely farmers and businessmen.

The community is known for hosting countless Islamic teachers as it is blessed with knowledgeable individuals of high repute. Knowledge seekers from far and wide troop to the community to learn from one alaramma or another.

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Speaking to Daily Trust on Sunday, a 32-year-old resident of Tsakuwa, Abdulmalik Shehu, said he grew up without seeing any building serving as a police station.

“Most of our cases are being mediated by some self help groups, the Hisbah and vigilante group,” he said.

“Whenever we have issues that demand the attention of the police, we travel to Dawakin Kudu to complain or ask them to come over, either for arrest or investigation. Honestly, this is a setback to us because security is very important.

“The distance is not favourable, especially when issues are of urgent need. If it is someone committing a crime, before you go there and come back, he or she would have done what he wants.

“Another thing is that with the current situation with the economy, how do you find joy in spending much just to report a case to the police in a very far destination? And when you do that they (the police) also spend much time before they arrive. We have had some instances where they spent up to two hours before arriving,” he said.

Also lamenting about the development, Umaru Saja said the absence of police operatives in the community had fuelled crimes, especially among young people in the area.

“Because everyone knows there is no police, offenders often find joy in committing crimes. People commit crimes and get away with it,” he said.

On his part, Zangina Abbas Tsakuwa, popularly known as Azino, said, “In the whole of Dawakin Kudu Local Government Area, there is no community that is as big as ours in terms of population and everything, but sadly, when you are talking of security, we are the ones left behind.

“It is not that we are not having issues here and there, but we find a way of managing it.

“The presence of security men will aid in keeping the sanity of the community. We have people who have served and are still serving in the government but they are doing nothing in this regard.”

The residents are calling on the government to come to their aid by building a police station in the community, saying the issue of security is key to development.

“I am over 60 years old and that’s how we grew up without a police station. Our youths are committing crimes and getting away with it.

“There was a time we had armed robbers who came overnight and ransacked the community. They operated for over two hours, and at the end, before anybody could go to Dawakin Kudu and report to the police, they had fled.

“Sometimes we even have to travel down to Gano town to get police. This is not development; it is stressing. We really need it, and that’s why we are appealing to the government and the authorities concerned to do everything possible to establish a concrete security setting here,” Abdullahi Maigoro said.

Meanwhile, owing to the dire need for security presence in the community for years, a community development group, Tsakuwa ‘Mufarka’ has sought for the approval of the local government council to paint a shop that will serve as a police outpost.

It was observed that the shop, located within a neighbourhood, has been painted with police colours since 2023 and awaiting police officers to be deployed there.

Daily Trust on Sunday reports that lack of police presence in a neighborhood can have several impacts on the safety and general livelihood of residents, which include increased crime rates, slower emergency response, reduced deterrence, community fear and vigilantism.

Other negative effects also include having a negative economic impact, social disruption, inequity, quality of life, among others.

Speaking on the issue, the chairman, Tsakuwa ‘Mufarka,’ Tasiu Alhassan Abdullahi, said that while they had done their best in trying to get a government-approved security outfit everyone can reckon with, they succeeded in building a one-shop police outpost and handed over to the local government council.

He said, “Honestly, we realised that we need adequate security in our community. We don’t have police presence and there is no place designated by the authorities to address the issue of security. We, therefore, decided to build a police outpost within two years. We have handed over the building to the chairman of Dawakin Kudu Local Government, Nasiru Ibrahim Matage.

“Currently, we are waiting for them to act on it. We don’t know what is making them stay longer in doing that, but we have done our part.”

Asked why the community does not have police presence, he said the people once believed they could control their territory and speak to their children, but the case is now different.

“The elders were once very active and could speak to anybody doing wrong and they succeeded, so they thought they didn’t need anything like the police in their community. But now, things have changed. The rate of crime being committed here, especially among the youth, is disturbing. The elders now cannot talk to anybody to stop what they are doing; and the community has developed in terms of population and almost in every aspect,” he explained.