By Ngozi Uwujaree
The Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG), Zone 5, Benin, Edo State, Mr. Abubakar Adamu Mohammed, has warned criminals to stay away from vandalizing public properties particularly, pipelines. Already, he said over 25 suspected criminals were arrested and illegal arms recovered.
He told Daily Sun that the zone disclosed that Tactical Operation Squad was launched in Delta State to fight armed robbers and kidnappers in the state. During his familiarization tour of the state, he asked officers and men to stick to professionalism and respect the fundamental human rights of citizens in the discharge of their duties:
“I warned them officers to shun corruption. They should follow the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Ibrahim Idris’ campaign for ‘Change Begins With Me’ and his vision and mission on community policing. They must maintain good relationship with the public so that they can give good information to fight criminals.
“The IGP and his team management are already addressing the issue of promotion of officers and men. Officers and men must imbibe discipline in their noble professional job. The issues of punctuality at work, dress code and supervision of the men by the senior officers need to be taken with all seriousness.
“We appreciate the co-operation of stakeholders at the meeting of PCRC and vigilante groups in Delta State. We appreciate them for assisting the police in various operations, which enabled us to round up some of the criminals terrorizing citizens.”
Adamu also met with the Asaba Council of Chiefs and dialogued on modern policing and how to checkmate the hoodlums. He lauded the chiefs on how they have been handling community crises: “I have sent strong signal to criminals to stay away from vandalising pipelines and other government properties. We are ready to tackle them.”
The AIG visited Governor Ifeanyi Okowa and appreciated him for the support being given to police, especially the provision of operational vehicles. He added that with the support of stakeholders and other security agencies, crime would drastically reduced in Delta State.