By Olufemi Oni, Ilorin
The new Kwara state Commissioner of Police, Mrs Ebunoluwarotimi Adelesi, has lamented that despite the low crime rate in the state, the Command is not absolutely free from some security threats, including kidnapping, robbery, cultism and allied offences, intra and inter communal clashes
The CP, who spoke during a maiden press briefing with journalists on Tuesday in Ilorin, the state capital, reiterated, for the umpteenth time, that the emphasis of the Command under her watch would be on crime prevention, saying “this is borne out of our conviction that the emotional, social, economic and practical costs of victimization are unquantifiable and extremely burdensome”.
She added: “Our resolve to have crime prevention as the major policy thrust is further enhanced by the notion that crime can directly undermine the legitimacy of a State by destroying the trust relationship between the people and the State.
This is because the most obligation of the State is to ensure the safety of its citizens.
“Consequently, concerted efforts will be made to put in place and sustain strategies which reduce, avoid or eliminate victimization by crime or violence. Such strategies include intelligence gathering, intensified anti-crime patrols, cooperation and collaboration with sister security agencies, as well as deployment of Quick Response Squads.
“Existing efforts to cooperate and collaborate with the communities will also be enhanced since they are in good position to contribute to the policing of their environment. These strategies are aimed at preventing the occurrence of crimes by reducing opportunities and increasing the risks of being apprehended.”
Noting that contemporary policing is IT-centric, the Command boss said urgent steps would be taken to improve on the employment of ICT as a veritable tool of reducing the probability of felons escaping apprehension.
She said: “Efforts will therefore be intensified in collaboration with other relevant government, non-governmental agencies and the public to make crime unattractive and unprofitable in Kwara state.”
Not unaware of the dirge of both human and material resources needed for the execution of the Command’s strategies, Mrs Adelesi assured the people that the Command would ensure judicious and effective deployment of the available manpower and law enforcement equipment in the protection of their lives and property.
Coming to the realisation of the fact that Kwara state shares borders with Oyo, Osun, Ekiti, Kogi and Niger States, she said arrangements are being made to strengthen the existing collaboration between the composite State Commands as a way of forestalling felons from taking undue advantage of the interstate boundaries to perpetrate criminal activities, adding that the Police Border Patrol Squad domiciled in the State would also be effectively deployed and supervised to forestall cross border crime.
The Command’s boss, however,
solicited for the cooperation of law abiding citizens with the Command in their resolve to make Kwara State a very safe and secured place where peace and tranquillity reign, while assuring them that the Police would be civil, but firm in discharging its statutory duties without fair or favour.
She added: “The officers and men will be effectively superintended to ensure they discharge their duties with a high level of professionalism while particular attention shall be paid to the protection and promotion of the human rights of all.”
End