The Acting Inspector General of Police, Usman Baba says efforts so far taken under his leadership have started yielding the desired results.
The Police boss made the remark on Thursday at a weekly media parley organized by the Presidential Media Team.
He said: “I’m here to give an abridged score version of what I have been able to do in terms of policing, which is essentially to enforce peaceful coexistence by way of ensuring that law and order is abide by and the Nigerian public go about their lawful businesses in a peaceful manner, unmolested.
“Bearing this in mind, on my assumption of duty as the acting Inspector general of Police on the 7th day of April, I started by repositioning the Force Management Team, to enable each member function from a position of strength in line with the age-long policing principles and vision.
“With a refocused team, the Force Management went back to the drawing board, to enable us assess the trend and pattern of crimes and other security challenges across the country. This was done among other things; to evolve new approaches both in terms of short, medium and long-term interventions that will help in reordering and stabilizing the security of our country.”
Aftermath of EndSARS
The Acting Inspector General noted that after a careful analysis of the peculiar situation regarding security in the six geo-political zones of the country, he realised that the morale of his personnel was dampened, due to the EndSARS protests that were carried out across the country therefore, he had to do something fast.
“The security situation in the country has been significantly stabilized from time to time but you see occasional disruptions coming from these zones, in the form of either attacks on Police personnel or facilities or even all law enforcement agencies including the military.
“Therefore, we decided to rejig the morale of our personnel which had been a little bit dampened since the EndSARS came and went away. With the proscription of SARS, we have been able to marshal up the courage of our personnel who have been involved in handling violent crimes and post them for anti-robbery patrols and the investigation of violent crimes, which include robbery, kidnapping, cultism and banditry among others,” he said.
Restoration of law and order
Baba said the new strategy launched by the Police in the Southern part of the country tagged “Operation Restore Peace” is aimed at restoring law and order in the affected areas.
“We decided to launch an operation, which is tagged ‘Operation Restore Peace,’ and we targeted the South East and South-South for the first phase of the operation. We reinforced these two zones with a total of 3, 700 policemen drawn from our various units, including the Police Mobile Force, the Strike Force, Counter Terrorism, Special Protection Unit, etc. These Commands were reinforced with these personnel with specific instructions with an operation order targeted at stabilizing the incessant attacks on Police facilities.
“The first operation in the South-East was launched on 18th May in Enugu and we clearly stated our mission and vision. All the states in that zone were in Enugu. We also had meetings with stakeholders to look at the non-kinetic way of addressing the issue. We also advised them that whatever agitation they have, could be done peacefully without targeting the Police or other security agents.
“We did the same thing in the South-South and all the states in the zone actively participated. I assure you that since the time we had these operations launched, we have had a recipe of policemen coming to defend themselves and repel most of these attacks; we had successful repels and arrests as well as recoveries in great numbers.
“For record purposes, following the launching of Operation Restore Peace,’ we have so far recovered the following weapons and arms from secessionists and insurgents one general purpose machine gun, 10 AK 47 rifles, nine locally fabricate rifles, four locally fabricated pistols, 19 AK 47 magazines, 5419 live ammunition with 10 improvised explosive devices.
“In terms of arrests we have 398 armed robbery suspects, 258 cult related offenders, 222 murder suspects, 202 bandits related suspects and 86 suspects involved in cases of kidnapping. 434 firearms of various descriptions were also recovered. These statistics are from 7th April till date.” he said.
Support from Government
Baba used the occasion to appreciate the support the Police is receiving from the government and the Police Trust Fund, leading to the successes being recorded.
He said: “On the part of the government, since my assumption of office, we have been able to receive a lot of support and practical taking in of logistics by the Nigeria Police. The Police Reform Team which I am a member of, has taken off to reposition the Police in terms of administration and operations. We have also started receiving support from the Police Trust Fund in terms of training, welfare and logistics.”
The Police boss also announced that the Kaduna-Abuja highway, hitherto a beehive of kidnappers and criminals, is currently being monitored, via cameras, with fortified patrol vans and personnel, to ensure the safety of its users.
Nneka Ukachukwu
