Friday, March 29, 2024

Crime analyst commends President Buhari, ex-IGP Arase

A crime analyst, Mr. Folorunso Atta has applauded the achievements so far recorded by the President Muhammadu Buhari- led administration in combating crime.
Atta said that the Buhari government, during the tenure of the immediate past inspector general of police, Mr. Solomon Arase, reduced crime rate in the country to the barest.
He said that both Buhari and Arase qualified to be described as a “crime bursting duo.”
Thanking the president for giving Arase the opportunity to serve his motherland meritoriously, Atta said the gesture portrayed the president as a crime fighter who did not find it difficult to notice and recognise the sterling qualities in Arase, which convinced him to retain the former IGP in his government until his recent retirement.
Atta said that the war against insurgency, the fight against corruption and the clamp down on armed bandits and kidnappers of security agents nationwide, have shown that the president was set to eliminate, if not reduce, all forms of criminality in the country.
“Arase, with only 14 months in the saddle as the country’s number one police Officer, had, in this short period, surpassed the records of his four predecessors who served the nation for six years.
“If one takes a look at the records of these past four IGPs before Arase, one will come to the conclusion that the 14 months of Arase was better in reducing violent crimes, through proactive policing and a better welfare package for the officers of the force when compared with the six years of his predecessors.
“Arase started by ensuring that the transition of ex-president Dr. Jonathan Goodluck to the incumbent, President Buhari, was smooth. After the smooth hand-over, police officers who took part in the transition were paid their allowances, without the usual practice of some IGPS who would have pocketed the money. In his accountable and transparent manner, police officers who were deployed to Bayelsa, Kogi and Rivers during the governorship elections applauded the former IGP for paying their election allowances into their bank accounts; even the losers in those elections have never accused him of aiding or abetting rigging. The Police, it is a well-known fact, remained neutral in all these elections exercise,” said Atta.
He added that with Arase’s knowhow of intelligence gathering, many high-tech armed robbers were arrested just as kidnappers were reduced drastically, saying, “Two such cases were the rescue of Chief Olu Falae and Senator Iyabo Anisulowo.”
He said high-tech robbers who robbed banks in Ikorodu, Lekki and Festac and killed innocent people in the process were nabbed by the police.
The crime analyst noted that this could not have been possible without the encouragement and advice Arase gave to the police headed that investigated the incidents.
Atta said the arrest of the killers of Col. Isa Musa in Kaduna and the foiling of two attempts by Boko Haram members to bomb Abuja by the police under Arase, showed his prowess and capabilities as a super cop.
“Arase revitalized the tailoring and printing departments of the police that had become comatose for over 20 years. The setting up of anti-corruption squad and safer highways teams have not only saved members of the public from highways robbers, but has equally reduced corruption in the force,” he said.
On welfare, Atta hailed Arase and his police management team for promoting police officers based on credibility, adding that the construction of a housing unit in Abia State named after another former IGP, Mike Okiro, and award of scholarship to the children of policemen as well as the renovation of police stations were some of the goodies Arase dished out to police personnel and their children.
“One good area where Arase threaded softly and wisely was the area of inter-agency rivalry. He ensured that men of the force became real sister to other agencies. This was unlike in the past where we witnessed daily clashes between the police and other agencies,” he said.

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