The Commissioner of Police in Abia state, Ene Okon, said the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, has deployed his Special Technical Squad to assist the Abia command in the fight against kidnapping.
Ene said this at a meeting he held with Aba residents, Police Community Relations Committee (PCRC) members and policemen in the divisions under the Aba Area Command on Tuesday.
He said: “Already I have anti-kidnapping team here in Aba. I have fortified them, given them a vehicle, an office accommodation in Aba outside the area command and approved extra manpower for them.
“Let me give you one more cheering news. I was in Abuja after the elections when kidnapping reared up its ugly head here in Aba and I discussed with the IGP.
“Luckily, yesterday, the IGP dispatched his Special Technical Squad to come and meet me in Abia and they are coming with their technical equipment.
“They are coming to cover the whole of Aba and I expect them by next week,” he said, adding that “they are to remain here and fight it out.”
Ene said that crime and criminality escalated in the country after the civil war, pointing out that “since crime and criminality are dynamic, they now require technology to fight, accordingly.”
He said that Section 214 of the Constitution, which established the police, was made by the people, who are members of the community, hence it could be rightly said that the police are owned by the people.
He said Section 216 assigns the police with the duties to protect lives and property, maintain law and order in the society, adding that the people as “creators of the police have their obligations also to the police.”
He, therefore, called on the people to assist the police perform their duties satisfactorily by being law-abiding, volunteering information and supporting police efforts.
The police boss urged policemen, who he described as “servants to the people,” to treat the people with respect as their paymasters.
He said he would not tolerate acts of indiscipline, crime and criminality, corrupt practices and abuse of citizen’s rights among policemen.
He said he was made to understand that every policeman in Abia was desirous to serve in Aba in order to engage in corrupt practices and make money, warning that he would soon transfer some of them out of the city.
He urged the police to make discipline their watchword and thanked the PCRC for its immense contribution to the success of the command.
In their separate remarks, the Divisional Police Officer (DPO), Central Police Station, Aba, DPO, Uratta-Eziukwu and DPO, Ndiegoro, CSP Abii Onyeulor, CSP Princewill Ekeocha, and SP Emeka Oganyi, respectively, thanked the CP for his visit.
They appealed to him to beef up the manpower in their various divisions, provide them with functional patrol vehicles and motorcycles and post more male officers to make their work easier.
In his speech, the Aba Area Commander, ACP Peter Opara, urged the CP to consider the request of the DPOs and help out where possible.
