By Odita Sunday
At Ogborikoko Police Division in Delta State, CSP Dr. Setemi Agbede-Zuokumor is demonstrating that effective policing extends beyond arrests and enforcement, with a strong emphasis on prevention, community engagement, mentorship and youth empowerment.
In a security environment where policing is often associated primarily with crime detection, arrests and prosecution, CSP Dr. Setemi Agbede-Zuokumor, the Divisional Police Officer of Ogborikoko Police Station in Delta State, is advancing a broader approach that places prevention and public engagement at the centre of community security.
Her leadership reflects the understanding that safer communities cannot be achieved by law enforcement agencies acting alone. Rather, they require cooperation between the police, families, schools, community leaders, young people and other stakeholders.
For CSP Agbede-Zuokumor, the police badge represents not only authority but also a responsibility to protect lives and property, uphold the law, listen to citizens and build confidence between the police and the communities they serve.
Her approach is particularly evident in her engagements with young people.
Rather than waiting until youths become involved in criminal activities before intervention, she advocates early engagement, mentorship and the creation of positive alternatives capable of keeping young people away from destructive influences.
Issues such as cultism, drug abuse, cybercrime, juvenile delinquency, peer pressure, inappropriate use of social media and unemployment, she emphasises, cannot be effectively tackled through arrests alone.
They require prevention, sustained conversations and collective responsibility.
Catching Young People Early
A recurring theme in CSP Agbede-Zuokumor’s engagements is the need for society to intervene early in the lives of young people.
She believes parents, schools, religious organisations, community leaders and security agencies all have important roles to play in guiding young Nigerians and helping them make responsible choices.
During youth-focused programmes, she has drawn attention to the dangers associated with peer pressure, cultism, substance abuse, inappropriate online content and other influences that can derail young lives.
Her message, however, goes beyond warnings.
She encourages young people to pursue education, acquire useful skills, develop their talents and engage in productive activities that can provide them with legitimate pathways to success.
The philosophy is simple: prevention becomes more effective when young people have positive alternatives.
A teenager who has a sense of purpose, useful skills and access to constructive opportunities is better positioned to resist negative influences than one who is idle, frustrated and vulnerable to criminal recruitment.
Although skills acquisition alone cannot eliminate crime, it can help address some of the social and economic conditions that create vulnerabilities.
It is this preventive dimension that gives CSP Agbede-Zuokumor’s policing philosophy a wider significance.
The Family as the First Line of Security
CSP Agbede-Zuokumor also places strong emphasis on the role of parents in shaping the behaviour and future of their children.
Her message to parents is that the responsibility of raising children cannot be left entirely to schools, religious institutions, government or society.
Parents, she stresses, must know their children, understand their friendships, communicate with them and take an active interest in what they consume, particularly online.
The challenge has become even more complex in the digital age.
A child may be physically within the family home while being exposed through a smartphone to influences from across the world. As a result, parental responsibility now extends beyond knowing where children are physically to understanding the digital spaces they occupy.
CSP Agbede-Zuokumor has therefore encouraged parents to pay closer attention to their children’s use of smartphones and social-media platforms.
For her, effective supervision is not about excessive control but responsible guidance.
Tackling Emerging Digital Threats
The rapid growth of technology has created enormous opportunities for Nigerians but has also introduced new security concerns, including cybercrime, online fraud, cyberbullying, exposure to inappropriate content and the recruitment of young people into harmful activities.
CSP Agbede-Zuokumor recognises that these challenges cannot be addressed by the police in isolation.
Families, schools, communities, technology users and law-enforcement agencies all have roles to play in promoting responsible digital behaviour.
Through her engagements, she reminds young people that the internet is not beyond the reach of the law and that actions carried out behind a smartphone can have real-world consequences.
At the same time, she urges parents to improve their digital awareness so they can better guide their children and identify potentially harmful online interactions.
Her position reflects a growing reality: some security threats can begin quietly, through an online conversation, social-media contact or digital platform, long before they become visible as conventional crimes.
Youth Empowerment as Crime Prevention
Another key component of CSP Agbede-Zuokumor’s philosophy is the link between youth empowerment and crime prevention.
She has supported and participated in programmes aimed at promoting skills acquisition and productive engagement among young people, consistently encouraging Nigerian youths to acquire useful skills and appreciate the dignity of legitimate labour.
The approach recognises that empowering young people does more than improve their economic prospects. It can also give them a stronger sense of purpose and reduce their vulnerability to negative influences.
For this reason, youth development should not be viewed solely as a social or economic intervention. It can also form part of a broader crime-prevention strategy.
The Woman Behind the Badge
Beyond the rank and responsibilities associated with the position of Chief Superintendent of Police is a professional whose approach to policing places considerable emphasis on the human consequences of insecurity.
For CSP Agbede-Zuokumor, every crime has a human face.
Behind a crime statistic is a victim. Behind a case file is an individual or family dealing with the consequences of an incident. Behind a troubled teenager may be a family struggling to find direction, while insecurity within a community can affect businesses, workers, parents and children.
This perspective gives her engagements a human dimension.
Her conversations with young people focus more on responsibility and guidance than intimidation. Her interactions with parents emphasise partnership, while her community engagements reinforce the principle that security is a shared responsibility.
That human approach is particularly important in strengthening public confidence in law enforcement.
Building Trust, One Conversation at a Time
Trust in policing is not established through speeches alone. It is built gradually through everyday encounters between officers and the communities they serve.
It grows when citizens believe the police will respond when they need assistance. It is strengthened when victims are treated with dignity and when officers engage communities respectfully.
For CSP Agbede-Zuokumor, youth engagements, conversations with parents and interactions with community stakeholders provide opportunities to strengthen that relationship.
Such engagements may not always attract public attention, but their impact can be significant.
A teenager who listens to a police officer may reconsider joining a cult group. A parent who becomes more attentive to a child’s online activities may prevent potential harm. A community member who develops confidence in the police may be more willing to provide information that could help prevent a crime.
This is the quieter dimension of community policing: preventing problems before they escalate.
At Ogborikoko, CSP Dr. Setemi Agbede-Zuokumor’s approach suggests that modern policing requires both firmness and engagement the ability to enforce the law when necessary while also investing in the relationships, opportunities and conversations that can prevent crime in the first place.
Ultimately, her philosophy reinforces a simple principle: safer communities are built not only through the enforcement of laws, but also through trust, responsible citizenship, mentorship, empowerment and sustained partnership between the police and the people.
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