The Governor of the Northern Province, Aimé Bosenibamwe, has challenged residents in the area to reinforce the crime prevention concept of ‘Neighbourhood Watch’, a Rwanda National Police (RNP) initiative that encourages residents to be an eye for each other to jointly promote safety and peace.

The Governor was speaking at an exercise in Rusarabuye Sector of Burera District this week, where over 1200 liters of crude liquor, commonly known as kanyanga and over 10, 000 sachets of other banned gin seized in the area, were destroyed.

"Safety, security and peace is a responsibility for every Rwandan and that’s why the idea of ‘Neighbourhood Watch’ was developed for us all to own security challenges that could be affecting us in the communities we live in and to respond jointly to what can affect our  safety,” Bosenibamwe said.

He appealed to residents to avoid family conflicts and to always channel their grievances to concerned authorities like Police and Abunzi (community based mediators), instead of taking matters in their hands.

He urged the residents to tighten community night patrols and share timely information sharing on likely security threats in the area.

Chief Supt. Dismas Rutaganira, the Regional Police Commander (RPC) for the Northern region, said the destroyed drugs were seized from 27 dealers in the last three months, who were also arrested and currently either serving their sentences or on trial.

He pointed to the security challenges linked to drug abuse, saying it has in most cases fueled petty theft, domestic violence and sexual crimes.

CSP Rutaganira echoed the need for ownership in fighting and preventing crimes.

The Mayor of Burera, Samuel Sembagare, called upon the residents to always report individuals that try to cause insecurity in their communities.