By Augustine Ehikioya
The Tactical Operations introduced by the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Usman Alkali Baba, and followed up by the Delta State Commissioner of Police (CP), Ari Muhammed Ali, have ensured peace in Delta State.
The operations specifically helped the State to prevent burning and destruction of Police stations by unknown gunmen, when it was rampant in the South East.
These were the views of the Director-General (DG) of the Delta Security Matters, Hon. David Tonwe.
He spoke in an exclusive interview with Security Watch Africa (SWA).
He also disclosed other measures taken to ensure calmness and peace in the State.
He said “The Tactical Force that the CP deployed keep the State very quiet. And all that he has done, I want to commend the IGP, because the IGP sent a troop of Mobile Policemen to our State and they have been here since doing wonderfully well.
“They are always on 24 hours patrol, you see them in every nook and cranny, night, late afternoon, anytime you see them doing their job. So, I want to commend the IGP for that and the CP is doing a good job, and the State is quiet.”
On the attacks by unknown gunmen on Police stations, he said “I was in Port Harcourt when the IGP came and he made the pronouncement and what he said is that you cannot allow civilian to come and attack where you are, go after them. I remember it vividly and I want to say with all determination and enthusiasm that when the IGP was Commissioner in this State, both of us served in the Security Council.
“This is my second term serving. He was here in the first term of this government. And I think he is somebody that loves Deltans and during the time we had the problem of hit and run, attacking Police stations and the rest, when it happened in one or two Police stations in Delta North, the CP didn’t take it lightly and from that day, he insisted on the system of you guys must be at alert, 24 hours business.
“And you can see the Police officers, they were all at alert, they were all vigilant. After that two incidents, there was no other. But we hear of other States that they were doing that.
“Like what I said, the CP is a very good man when it comes to operations. I saw him with that concept, that mind and philosophy that you take the fight to their doorsteps and don’t let them come to your doorstep.
“So that is the approach and with that we are very okay and happy with him. He is a perfect gentleman when it comes to tactical operations. He always follow up his words with actions,” he stated.
Stressing on the CP’s performances, he said “And I want to commend the CP, not politics and not because of anything, he has been pro-active in the way of handling issues. And for the past six, seven months, there is this show of force philosophy.
“The show of force philosophy now brought all these crimes to the barest minimum and the collaboration of other sister agencies is so well-managed that the issue of armed robbery, kidnapping and other social vices were reduced drastically.”
He also attributed the peace in the State to the support of the State Governor and the collaborative efforts among the heads of security agencies in the State.
He said “For the past months, Delta State has been adjudged as peaceful. The security situation has been so calm. And why is it so? It is because of the pro-active nature of all the security heads and the collaboration has gained a lot of momentum in this State.
“And without mincing words, I want to give the credit to the Governor because he is somebody that felt that security is something that he takes closer to his heart and he is doing very well. And the team of a heads of security we have in this State that “collaboration is wonderful”.
He also commended the military for introducing Operation Still Waters in the area.
“And one other kudos I will give is that if there is anything, any kind of security programme, like for example the military came out with their Operation Still Waters. That Still Waters was a collaboration of all the security agencies in this State.
“And in fact it was a wonderful one. It overwhelmed the public. The public is very happy that it is spontaneous action when it comes to tackling the issue of insecurity in any area,” he said.
The DG pointed out that despite the successes recorded, there were still little challenges including community clashes caused by land disputes, problems during election and cultism.
According to him, the disputes and other problems are tackled as soon as they arise.
He said “But immediately, there is prompt actions, we go over there to arrest the situation so that it does not snowball into crisis. And with that, I think it is a philosophy of pro-activeness. Everything we are seeing, we don’t take it for granted, we go after it. If not, it can manifest into other bigger problems.
“So, today, the State is adjudged to be very quiet, to be peaceful and I must give it to the security heads because they are doing everything possible to make sure that there is no problem.”
On elections, he said “The only time that we had a little kind of fidgeting is the time of election across the Niger. You know there was a lot of tension. But to us here, we were very calm because we know the border between us and them.”
According to him, the State is on top of the cultism challenge being experienced in the Sapele area of the State.
He said “The challenges we are facing in Sapele has to do with cultism and these cultists are people we don’t want to allow them to raise their ugly heads in Sapele. They are creating more problem over there and what we have done is we are trying to know the heads of all the cult groups.
“The DPO there has done a marvellous job, trying to bring them together. Cultism is not what you can just wish away. It is everywhere. But for me, to have the ability to identify them, and to suppress and bring them together.”
He also spoke on efforts being taken to stop security threats from the States surrounding Delta State from affecting the peace and calmness in the State.
He said “You are right, we are in the centre of these States, over here capital of Asaba, we have done everything to make sure there is no influx. We always push them back.
“From the Head Bridge, you know we have our men on surveillance 24 hours and we too have some of the locals that are working under my office that gather intelligence for us and for other services and security apparatus.
“Over there, the Bayelsa flank of it, we have the Delta Waterways, the security outfit, and those outfits have young men on patrol between Patani, Bomadi, Burutu, these are the boundary towns, and we have them close to 24/7 working.
“We have all the information and the good thing is that we took them from the creeks and from the various communities so that before anything will happen, we have an information. That’s how we have been operating and it is really very good,” he said.
The DG went on “And the other one that has to do with the Edo border, we have those people over there, we have the SSA Security and some of the community watch. They are doing very good, they give us information and we worked towards the information to nib anything that will bring about crisis to us. The State is good.”
On appreciation of the measures by Deltans, he said “The citizens always ask for more. But, whichever way, I know, Deltans will tell you that, for the now, they are very very comfortable with what is happening and we are not saying that there is no other issue from robbery.
“But largely, Deltans are very very happy because the State is quiet compare with before. Every day, you see crises, robbery, kidnapping, attack. But for the now, Delta State is very quiet because of the multiple action of security, Operation Delta Hawk.”