We’ve Deployed Technology To Combat Kidnapping, Banditry — IGP

The Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Usman Alkali Baba, has disclosed that the police authorities have deployed technology to combat kidnapping and banditry in Nigeria.

The IGP challenged officers and men of the force to leverage on their academic qualifications in order to adapt to the new policy of deploying technology in fighting crimes, as criminality has assumed a more sophisticated pattern in the country.

IGP Baba affirmed the commitment of the police to adopt technology in virtually all areas of operations, to match the dynamism of new waves of banditry and kidnapping in the country.

Addressing officers and men of the police force at Akwa Ibom State Police Headquarters, Ikot Akpan-abia, Uyo, yesterday, where he stopped over before proceeding to inaugurate the Special Protection Unit base in Onna LGA of the state, Baba said the Marine unit of the Nigeria Police has been reactivated, crime section digitalised, drones have been acquired, while the Technical Intelligence Unit is fully functional to cope with new trends in crime and criminality.

He said the police must work with time and modernity to contain the ever-dynamic crime wave, adding that training and retraining have been the cardinal point of the present administration.

“Crime is a dynamic thing; it is not something that is static. It moves with time, it moves with modernisation, it moves with technology. Nobody has ever told us that human beings can be stolen, now we see human beings being stolen and taken away and they’re asking you to bring money. That is a new crime, which is called kidnapping. We know of armed robbery and now we started hearing of armed banditry.

“So, we must work with modernity and, therefore, one of our cardinal principles in the job now is to train and retrain ourselves. So, training is the cardinal point of our administration. We just started training our 10,000 recruits since last Monday and we have been able to change the curriculum to reflect modernism. Since we came, we have gotten a lot; we have just been given 200 brand new pick-up vehicles that are very strong by the Police Trust Fund. We have made our air wing very effective. We are proud of putting six helicopters in the air at one time.

“Our Marine segment has been reactivated. Our Technical Intelligence Unit is working. We have acquired drones; we have digitized our crime section. We have involved a lot of technology in our works,” the IGP said.

He encouraged police officers to constantly educate themselves by reading and listening to news on television in order to acquaint themselves with the latest happenings in the society.

Alkali lamented that, before the launch of Operation Restore Peace in the South East, the secessionists had demoralized the workforce with unprovoked attacks and killings, adding that the force was working tirelessly to equip itself with tools to aid operations.

Baba described Akwa Ibom as one of the important states in the country owing to the fact that it generates much of the revenue needed to run the national economy, and appealed to policemen to live above board by ensuring that oil theft in the coastal communities is effectively checked.

In his welcome address, the State Commissioner of Police, Andrew Amiengheme, lauded the IGP for his result-oriented policies which are in line with global best practices

The CP said, though there had been unprovoked attacks in some palces such as in Essien Udim LGA, since he assumed office as the 30th CP, the measures he initiated by rejigging the security apparatuses of the state had started yielding fruits.

He commended the collaboration between the police and the support of the state government in crime fighting and prevention in the state

“Since we assumed office we have been rejigging the security apparatuses of the state and that is yielding results in the state. Some of our men are still in the affected areas,” the commissioner said .