Okon Bassey in Uyo
The Inspector General of Police (IG), Usman Alkali Baba, yesterday commended the Akwa Ibom State Police Command for crime detection, prevention, and the general fight against criminalities in the state.
The IG hailed the Command while addressing its officers and men during his familiarisation visit to state Police Command.
Baba was also in the state to inaugurate a special protection base built by the state government for the Command, Base 27, in Onna Local Government Areas of the state.
According to him, “Since I took over as the IG, Akwa Ibom State Police Command is one of the Commands I am proud of. It has never given me headache or sleepless night, and it had never left me in
shame.
“I, therefore, believe the state Commissioner of Police when he said ‘he is here to provide quality leadership.’
“Your quality leadership is also supported by quality manpower and commitment to duties by officers and men of the police force, and by also having a government that supports the operation.”
The IG insisted that the duties and responsibilities of the police are to provide a conducive environment for peace to reign across the country.
He said: “When there is peace, there is going to be socio-economic activities, as well as smooth political activities.”
The IG vowed that he would continue to work with his management team “to improve from what we have met, and we believe that somebody else will also do from where we must have stopped.”
Baba told officers and men of the police force that crime is a dynamic thing, adding: “It is not something that is static. It moves with time; it moves with modernisation, and with technology.
“Nobody had ever told us that human beings could be stolen one day; now we see human beings being stolen. So you see how dynamic crime is?
“In those days, they told us that for the properties to be moveable, it must have ownership. But today we see how human being is taken away and they are asking you to bring money. This is the new crime (kidnapping).
“We know of armed robbery, and now we have banditry. So we must work with time, we must work with modernity.”
Based on this development, the IG said: “Our cardinal principle now is to train and retrain ourselves.
“We just started training 10,000 recruit effectively from last Monday and we have been able to change the curriculum to reflect modernisation.
“And therefore, I want to ask police officers, to please read always please on watch television to educate yourselves.”
