Imo State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Taiwo Fredrick Lakanu, yesterday explained that his decision to lead anti- crime operations in the state, especially during rescue of kidnap victims was to motivate his men to achieve greater results.
He stated that his presence during critical operations, which had led them to spend days in the bush tracking high profile criminal elements, had often emboldened his men, adding that he cannot afford to remain in the office doing administrative job, while his men are out in the field fighting criminals.
According to him: “In all my Police life, I have been holding operation positions. I started with Special Anti-Robbery Squad in Lagos, where I was in charge of various operational units; in Zone 2, I was charge of operations. I have serious passion for the job and I also feel that a leader should lead practically. I don’t see myself as a Commissioner who should sit down in the office and do administrative job. I go out most of the time and my men get encouraged. I remember there was a time we were looking for a set of kidnappers who were in the bush and my men have combed the bush for two days, I realised that they were getting tired, I decided to join them and it emboldened their spirit and this led to the arrest of the criminals.” The police commissioner who also assured the people of the state that the command is fully prepared to check activities of criminal elements during the approaching yuletide, said that the command is confronting criminalities ‘frontally’ during the period. He maintained that as the yuletide approaches “we are confronting crime frontally, just as we did last year when we recorded zero kidnapping and armed robbery incident, we are doing the same thing this year. We have strategized and we have accessed the challenges. The motivation of our men is high and we are going to repeat the feat of last year. And we have commenced, if you go on the road now you will notice that we have started patrolling the nooks and crannies of the state”. Lakanu also stated that the Command in the last few weeks has made a record arrest of over 40 suspects involved in various crimes ranging from kidnapping, armed robbery, murder, unlawful possession of firearms and cultism.
He disclosed that following a tip off, “operatives of the command arrested a 4 man gang of kidnappers/armed robbers who kidnapped and robbed a 52 years old Cordelia Chikere of Umuokanne in Ohaji. The victim was kidnapped along Oburugo/Obiti Road, Ohaji at gunpoint. She was dragged into the bush, robbed and man-handled by the suspects.”
