Stephen Olufemi Oni, Ilorin

The Assistant Inspector-General of Police, Zone 8 Headquarters, Lokoja, Babatunde B. Ishola, has reiterated to officers and men of the Kwara state Police Command that the Nigerian Constitution and
other extant laws should be their guide in performing their lawful duty, warning that any duty discharged outside such would
amount to illegal duty which is contrary to the norms of the Police
Force.

He lamented that incivility to the members of the public by the Police Officers is on the high side, cautioning them not to forget that Police are servants and called to serve, not to oppress the
public.

He said: “The public are our employer and we must be hundred
percent answerable to them lawfully according to the constitution of the country that created the Police Force.

“The Police must be conscious of their immediate community. In
other words, Community Policing should be encouraged for
successful nip down of criminals in our society. The Acting Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Adeolu
Egbetokun’s blue print should be adhered to strictly to be able to
take the force to the next level, including upholding the sanctity of our legal framework with a view to
standardising the policing profession viz-a-viz driving
transformative agenda, embracing the principles of transparency,
accountability, and professionalism, while upholding the rights and welfare of both our officers and the communities we serve.

“The Nigeria Police Force under the command of the Acting
Inspector-General of Police, in its quest to stamp out violent
crimes and their detrimental and debilitating effects on the
security of our society, will forge ahead to tackle the menace of
crimes and criminality head on with the establishment of a
specialised Quick Intervention Squad which will comprise combat
ready Police Mobile Force personnel with effective and enhanced training in crisis de-escalation and violent crime reduction strategies. This will lead to a review of the engagemernt patterns of the Police Mobile Force in a bid to restore the days of glory of the Police Mobile Force as a punching arm of the Police.

“Furthermore, the force shall embrace innovation and technology
as powerful allies in our fight against crime. The world is evolving
at an unprecedented pace, and so we must adapt to the evolving
landscape of crime. Criminals today are more sophisticated, more
organised, and more ruthless than ever before. We will further
leverage cutting-edge tools, data analytics, and intelligence
networks to stay one step ahead of those who seek to disrupt the
peace. This we will do through a robust and effective human and
technical intelligence gathering process to enhance our capacity.
By harnessing the power of technology, we can make our streets safer, our investigations more efficient, and our communities more resilient. We cannot afford to be reactive; we must be proactive in our approaches by equally collaborating with other
security agencies (both domestic and international) to strengthen
our intelligence network and dismantle criminal enterprises.”

In her welcome address, Kwara state Commissioner of Police, Ebunoluwarotimi Adelesi, noted that the state is bordered by
local and international boundaries which makes it susceptible to both local and cross-border criminality, adding that the working synergy between sister agencies in the state has been helpful in curtailing the influx of criminals into the State.

According to her, the crimes prevalent in the state include cultism, kidnapping, boundary disputes, communal conflicts, farmer-herder conflicts, and other common societal cases, adding that the Command has confronted the menaces of cultism and kidnappings with uncommon vigour through the support of the people and the determination of officers and men of the Command.

Kwara State, the CP said, is cosmopolitan in nature, populated with people of diverse ethnic, religious, and social inclinations, which makes policing the state a little technical, pointing out, however, that “we have been able to manage the diversity to our advantage”.

She said: “AIG sir, I want to inform you that the task of maintaining and sustaining peace and security in the state is so daunting, but the support of the traditional institutions in the state has helped in making our tasks easy.”

Adelesi told the AIG that the Command has implemented all the policies initiated by the Inspector-General of Police, which, she noted, had helped them in the day-to-day policing activities.

She added: “We have disciplined and dedicated officers and men in the Command, which contributed greatly to achieving the mileage we have achieved in securing the citizens and residents thus far.
I want to use this opportunity to inform the AIG that all our successes so far can be attributable to the support of the state government under the dynamic leadership of Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq.”

End