By Usman Aliyu
The Commissioner of Police in Edo, Monday Agbonika, says youth engagement through sports can help tackle crime at its roots.
Agbonika said this in Benin at the end of the CP Monday Agbonika Chess Sequence 34 tournament organised in his honour.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the FIDE-rated tournament featured seven rounds in a Swiss rapid format with 41 players from across the country.
Agbonika said community-oriented policing remained an effective strategy for crime prevention through active youth engagement.
He noted that sports could provide young people with positive engagement and reduce their vulnerability to criminal activities.
“As a commissioner of police, I have always advocated community-oriented policing.
“A lot of times when people talk about crime, they talk about how you can attack crime by attacking the causes of crime, and one of those things you can do is to engage the youth.
“So, I look at these chess events and I see the relevance in the fact that we are able to bring young minds together here and make it an important and interesting event.
“I also see it as a way of tackling crime,” he said.
Agbonika noted that expanding such initiatives would help address crime from the grassroots by giving young people meaningful opportunities to channel their energy and talent.
“If we can have a bigger event, if we can continue to champion this and advocate youth engagement in sports, I think we will be able to address crime at a very interesting level,” he added.
According to him, chess tournaments help channel youthful energy into productive activities while promoting intellectual development.
He cited the Police Athletic League in New York as a successful model of youth engagement in crime prevention, as law enforcement agencies engage young people in athletics as part of crime prevention strategies.
“It started small like this, but it grew and it is very popular now. If you say PAL, Police Athletic League, everybody hears about it.
“Many countries are trying to copy it. So, if we take this up to the next stage and are able to really engage the youth, I think it will be a very good way of addressing crime from the roots,” he said.
He pledged continued support for initiatives that promote youth development through sports.
Earlier, Convener of the initiative, Princess Adeyinka-Afolabi, said the tournament honoured Agbonika for his support for sports development.
She said the commissioner had consistently supported officers who are athletes by granting them time for training and competitions.
Adeyinka-Afolabi said the quarterly tournament was designed to help Edo players develop their skills locally.
She noted that the current edition attracted top-rated players from different states, making it highly competitive.
“When you come to him, no matter how late the tournament is, he always supports and releases them to go for training and they do well.
“This chess sequence series was born out of the need to give Edo State players an avenue to develop their talent,” she said.
NAN reports that participants included male and female players, youths, professionals and corporate individuals.(NAN)(www.nannews.ng)
Edited by Emmanuel Afonne
