Community Policing and Crime Prevention Role of the Vigilante Services in Dekina Local Government Area, Kogi State, Nigeria

The persistent limitations of formal policing in Nigeria have increased reliance on community-based security arrangements, necessitating an empirical assessment of their effectiveness. This study examined community policing and crime prevention role of Vigilante Services in Dekina Local Government Area of Kogi State, Nigeria. Specifically, it assessed the operational roles of vigilante groups, their effectiveness in crime prevention and the challenges limiting their performance. The study was anchored on the Broken Window Theory and adopted a cross-sectional survey research design. The study population comprised 1,304 vigilante members, selected police officers, local residents, and traditional leaders, from which a sample size of 276 was determined using Krecie and Morgan statistical technique for sample size determination. The study respondents was selected using a multistage sampling technique. Data were collected through structured questionnaire and key informant interviews and analysed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, and multiple regression analysis. The findings revealed a strong and significant relationship between vigilante operational roles and effective community policing (r = 0.842, p < 0.05). Regression analysis further showed that vigilante activities significantly predicted crime prevention outcomes (R² = 0.768; F = 412.56, p < 0.05), whereas operational challenges, including inadequate funding, poor training, inadequate equipment, weak legal frameworks, and limited collaboration with formal security agencies, significantly reduced effectiveness (R² = 0.642; F = 86.45, p < 0.05). The study concluded that vigilante services remain indispensable to grassroots crime prevention and recommended their formal integration, improved training, and enhanced logistical and policy support to strengthen community policing in Nigeria.