Scholars have investigated the challenges of community policing (CP) in Nigeria through socio-political, economic, and cultural lenses, with none adopting a method that can reveal these challenges comprehensively. This has led to a gap in recognising key CP problems, thereby resulting in ineffective solutions from the government, and making government services in this context less accessible and responsive to citizens. This study employed Greenhalgh’s meta-narrative approach to unveil community policing challenges that were previously overlooked in Nigerian context. Drawing from a variety of sources such as scholarly articles (ACM digital library, Science Direct), official documents, and media coverage, this study identified lack of robust technology usage, lack of citizens’ participation, citizens’ unwillingness to share information and lack of trust, accountability and transparency as major community policing challenges in Nigeria. This study contributes to a nuanced understanding of the challenges hindering the successful implementation of CP in Nigeria, highlights the implications of these challenges on the overall security landscape, and offers directions to policymakers and relevant government agencies, providing insights to the design of technological solutions for community policing in Nigeria.