Assistant Inspector General of Police, Kanayo Uzuegbu has charged men and officers of the force in Ebonyi State command to imbibe high sense of professionalism in their works and suppress threats posed by members of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra in the state.
AIG gave the charge at police headquarters Abakaliki Ebonyi State capital during working visit on Wednesday.
Addressing the rank and file at the command, AIG said, “Unethical conduct is not allowed, you have to do your job as stipulated by law. It has to be done by fact, not by fancy. Our job, our policemen are doing a fantastic job.
“IPOB involvement in the South East is tied up. We know most of their inclinations, we will go against them. I will raid all of them, carry our war against any of them. I would like to say that all those thoughts of IPOB exist only in imaginations, the mind of people. If we are able to identify them, we have to deal with them ruthlessly.
“Like I said in my lecture, I came here to interface with the officers and men, to build their capacity, to build their confidence. When I build up this, they will do more.”
On her part, the State Commissioner of Police, Adaku Uche- Anya stated that the command has addressed various security challenges prevalent in the state through stakeholders dialogue and complain that the command lacks adequate manpower.
“The prevalent crimes in the Command include, cultism, communal clashes, murder, boundary disputes, and activities related to separatist groups (IPOB). The Command has thoroughly analysed these crime trends and adopted proactive strategies to combat them through community policing, high visibility policing, intelligence-led policing, and extensive raids on criminal hideouts and hotspots.
“We have successfully addressed various security challenges in the state through stakeholder dialogue. This approach has been instrumental in managing the communal issues, land and boundary disputes in different communities in the state.
“In anticipation of communal issues that arise during the farming season, we have used stakeholder dialogues to address and resolve brewing or lingering issues in various communities around the state. We engaged key stakeholders from Ekpaomaka and Inyimagu communities in Ikwo LGA and this engagement helped us arrest principal actors and others fanning the embers of communal crisis in that area.
“It is important to note that the Command is facing a shortage of manpower, which is a common issue affecting the Nigeria Police Force. I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to the Assistant Inspector-General of Police for this visit, which will undoubtedly boost the morale of the officers in the command. We assure you, Sir, that we will continue our efforts to reduce crime to the barest minimum.”