The Inspector General of Police, Alhaji Mohammed Dahiru Abubakar was in Anambra State yesterday on official tour of the Anambra State Police Command.
Speaking during a courtesy visit on the Governor, Mr. Peter Obi, he said he was in the State because all the times the Governor had called him on phone or visited him, that he was so passionate about security of lives and property in the State. “I am here to access the command, its operational readiness and needs”, he said. The IG said that Anambra was one of the foremost States in Nigeria in terms of economic achievement, which, according to him, flourished when there were peace and security.
Speaking about the police force, he admitted that he took over at a time the world all of over, including Nigeria, is facing security challenges. He assured Nigerians that the police would not relent. He promised to continue to work towards restoring professionalism in the police by emphasizing discipline, competence, training and motivation.
Responding, Governor Obi thanked him for the visit. He said that Anambra State Government was committed to working with legitimate security agencies in the State. He said that he had donated over 200 new patrol vehicles, Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs), communication equipment, among others to the police and that he would continue to support and work with them.
Obi appealed to the IG to consider Anambra security along the line of her huge population saying, “population wise, Okpoko alone should have its own command.” Describing Anambra as one of the safest States in the country, he linked the challenge os armed robbery to the volume of cash in the State, being predominantly a commercial city.
Later, at a well attended Town Hall meeting, The Inspector General of Police read a riot act, saying that road block is gone forever. According to him, Nigeria is the only country where police block roads and block easy passage by motorists. Through the ban of road blocks, Abubakar said, the police had curbed at least 70 per cent of corruption among its rank and file.
He said he would tackle the nasty issue of extorting money from detainees before bail, saying that there was nowhere in the constitution where money was prescribed for bail.
He also said that the police had drawn a code of conduct for police men and any one not toeing the line would be dismissed. But he asked the people to be courageous and resist tempting the police with bribes.
He also said that illegal use of siren must stop and that he had ordered the Anambra Commissioner of Police to enforce the law after his visit.
Nigerians have been saved about N6.43tn since police road blocks were abolished a few months ago by the acting Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Mohammed Abubakar.
The IG said this, citing a recent report on police road blocks, at an interactive session with traditional rulers, leaders of thought, businessmen and town union executives in Awka, Anambra State on Friday.
He said it was a shame that Nigerians, who paid the police to protect them, were made to become victims at road blocks.
He said the road blocks were gone for good they would never return to Nigerian roads.“This is the only country in the world where roads are blocked with sticks, drums and all sorts of things in the name of police check points,” he said.
Abubakar said with the abolition of police road blocks, Nigerians have been saved about N6.43tn in terms of police extortion, losses and time management. He said with the removal of the road blocks, 70 per cent of the corruption in the police force had been removed. “We are dealing with the real duties that the police force was set up to do,” he said.
Abubakar stated that a new code of conduct had been drawn up for policemen so that the citizens could know what to expect from the policemen that work with them.
He added that 50,000 policemen would soon begin a reorientation training to prepare them for the changing face of the police in intelligence gathering, ethics and etiquette. He reiterated the ban on the use of siren and beacon light by civilians, saying the police would soon begin to arrest people using siren or beacon light.
He said bail was and is still free and that women had the right to bail their wards at the police station. He urged Nigerians to report policemen who abuse their rights to higher police officers. He asked members of the public to give information about criminals and their activities to senior officers, like divisional police officers, to ensure confidentiality.
Speakers at the forum, including the Chairman, Anambra State Elders Council, Dr. Dozie Ikedife; Igwe of Ndikelionwu, Prof. Chukwuemeka Ike; Chairman, Anambra State Security Trust Fund, Dr. Ajulu Uzodike, thanked the IG for the removal of road blocks.
They advised that policemen should be properly equipped in order to check the activities of highway robbers, who had taken undue advantage of the removal of road blocks.
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