By Augustine Ehikioya
Due to Akwa Ibom State Governor, Pastor Umo Eno’s unwavering commitment to security in the State in close to two years, the Commissioner of Police in the State, CP Baba Mohammed Azare, said there is presently close to 90% peaceful atmosphere all round the State. Stressing that crimes and criminalities are at their lowest ebb in the State, he also gave credit for the security achievements to the Akwa Ibomites, who have resolved to support the Police and other security agencies in the State.
He spoke to Security Watch Africa (SWA) crew led by its President / CEO, Mr Patrick Agbambu, on a courtesy visit to his office in Uyo, the State capital.
Turning out to be the most peaceful State in Nigeria, the CP said Akwa Ibom State has increasingly become the destination for conferences, seminars, businesses and investments.
He said “That is why it is there for everybody to see. I said it. That is why you see everybody having Conferences, they will say I’m going to Uyo. conference this, conference that, I’m going to Uyo. Everyday, we keep receiving visitors. If it is not peaceful, they will not come.
“If it is not peaceful, they will be carrying these businesses and these conferences to other places. So the support that the Governor is giving to security agencies is what is translating into action for the people to be peaceful and for the State to be peaceful, and for us to record this peace environment.
“If there is no support, no matter how little it is, there is no way you will achieve any results. So the support that he’s rendering, as I just mentioned, the Command and Control Center, which will take billions of Naira, and I just mentioned that vehicles will be prepared to also be stationed every where in the State, and then cameras will be installed all over. How much will it cost the State government?
“So it is very huge investment in terms of security. And we thank him for all his foresight. I don’t doubt that he will do more, because he’s a son of the Barracks. He’s a Police son, his father was a Police officer, may his soul rest in peace.
“Even right now he’s about to build another Barracks for Counter-terrorism Unit in one of the local governments in Akwa Ibom State. So you can see that the support he’s rendering to security services is enormous.
“The support he’s rendering to the Police is enormous. And we thank him so much for all these projects that he is initiating and executing in Akwa Ibom State. The support he’s giving to Police to discharge their responsibilities cannot be overemphasized.” he stated.
Speaking on his relationship with the State Governor, he said “The relationship is very cordial. He’s a man of peace. He loves peace. He loves peace, and he loves his people to be in peaceful atmosphere. So it has been very tremendous, very wonderful.
“Anytime you call on him, he’s there for anything security. That’s what he is. So he’s a very wonderful human being, and we thank him for all the investment and the support he’s been giving to Police and other security services in Akwa Ibom, State.”
Continuing, the CP said “Recently, he just commissioned Command and Control Tower that will enable us control or see for ourselves what is happening Statewide, with cameras to be installed all over the State, and the Command and Control Centers will be the one that will be monitoring and then vehicles and Police personnel and other services will be placed strategically within the town, just as it is obtainable in Lagos.
“So I think he’s doing wonderfully well in terms of security, and he’s very supportive.”
On the support from the members of the public, he said “We have come to a State where everything is now peaceful. You could remember on assumption of office in December, I took time to call on stakeholders for a meeting. We met, deliberated and agreed on way forward to keep the State safe and peaceful.
“All the stakeholders came together to support the Police in Akwa Ibom State. That is why we are recording the peaceful nature that we are witnessing today in Akwa Ibom State.
“Everybody is giving his own contribution, and their contributions are also being implemented, and that is why we have the peace that we are recording in Akwa Ibom State today.” he stated.
“That is why we are sleeping with our two eyes closed. When I came in as DC Operations, every night, I don’t sleep uninterrupted, because people keep calling in the night, armed robbery here, armed robbery there, car theft here, kidnapping here. But now you wake up, you don’t see even a missed call. That is a sign that we are going with the agenda of the Inspector General of Police to reduce the crime rate Statewide by 50%, but Akwa Ibom is working towards 90%”
According to him, the directive of the Inspector General of Police is working in the State as it is being religiously followed.
“We are able to achieve this. By the time you look at our statistics of crime for the first quarter, by God grace, you will see that we are about achieving 90% peaceful environment.
“Even the agitations and communal clashes, we have been able to douse the tensions and reduce it to the barest minimum by engaging the youths, engaging the communities in dialogue, and enlightening them on what to do and what not to do.
“And those with the oil companies and the prospective investors that are coming around, we have always been in touch with them, things are moving fine. They are always playing the game according to the rules.
“The same thing with energy security, we have been able to provide security to all the infrastructural facilities of the Federal government and the State government against vandalization, and things are moving fine from this angle.
“By God’s grace, we will achieve 90% not even 50% of crime reduction in Akwa Ibom State.” the CP said.
He explained that his one year as Deputy Commissioner of Police of Operations in the State has really prepared him for the present position.
According to him, it afforded him the opportunity and edge to know what is happening in the different local governments and the State.
He said that it also helped him to know the officers by their characters, by their work, by their agility, and by their weaknesses.
“I know all of them. I’ve assessed them, and that has given me an edge in what we are seeing today. So when I come to implement a policy, I know where it will work, and I know where it will help. So that is what is happening. But truly, my stay as Deputy Commissioner of Police of Operations has given me an insight of the things we should do or the things we should implement to make it work, so that we can have peace in Akwa Ibom State. And we thank God that everybody is attesting to the fact that the area is calm, by God’s grace we will continue to keep it calm.” the CP said.
Speaking on crime statistics in the State, he said “Well, leaving December out of it, by January to February, we were able to arrest not less than 102 suspects of various crimes, ranging from kidnapping, armed robbery, human trafficking and other other crimes in the state.
“We were able to arrest them. Some are under investigation and some have been prosecuted in court of laws. We were able to recover about 20 arms from them. These arms range from g3 rifle, … guns, pistols, locally made pistols, AK, 47 and the rest of them.
“By the time we come to do our press conference for the first quarter of the year, we will display all of them for the public to see the recoveries we have made. We have recovered about 14 ammunitions.
“You know one thing we observe that these criminals hardly keep their ammunitions and arms together in one armoury, they usually separate arms.
“Arms separately in one place hidden. Ammunition separately in one place and they leave only few ammunition with the arms, with the rifles. So however, we were able to recover about 14 of the ammunition of different caliber and assorted rifles.
“And then we also recovered motorcycles and some vehicles up to about eight from different groups of criminals that have perpetrated armed robberies or kidnappings or whatever.
“Then we have been able to rescue about seven kidnap victims from their den. And the last was the one who were able to rescue from….. area,….. area, where they took the person, took him and hid him there with his vehicle, and they were demanding for ransom. The family refused to cooperate with the police, but we were able to one way or the other, stumbled on the phone they are using in calling, with the support of our sister agency, the DSS, we were able to establish the location where the calls are coming, and then we were able to storm that place, rescued the victim unhurt and were able to neutralize some of the suspects and arrested some of them, and recovered the vehicle for him. So the command is doing well in terms of crime fighting.”
On prominent crimes in the state, CP Azare said “To some extent now, the child trafficking is even higher than the kidnapping cases that we are recording. The kidnapping cases have gone down because we have all mechanism in place to track anybody who enter Akwa Ibom state to say he wants to kidnap any soul.
“And what we usually do is, if we have a kidnapping case, we make sure we follow it to the end. We follow it to the end, because if you are a kidnapper, that definitely is not the first time. So we want to know how many kidnappings you have done, and then where, and where are you keeping your arms, and who and who are your members.
“Right now at hand, we have a syndicate of kidnapping, that we have busted. 11 of them, so far we have about eight in our net, and we have about four of their arms,…… and pump action. We have these arms, and the suspects are helping us tracking others. So I said, no problem, before we prosecute the case, we must make sure that 11 of them that are members of that syndicate must all be rounded up. And by God’s grace we have eight, we are moving towards getting the remaining three to round off, so that at the end of the day, we would have killed that particular syndicate from operating on the space of Akwa Ibom and even any other state.
“We have traveled all the way to Port Harcourt on investigation activities, to get them arrested, to do a lot of things” he noted
According to him, the frequent Fulani, farmers’ clashes of the past have been reduced drastically in the state.
He said “It has been reduced beyond expectation, because when we came you find out that group of Fulani herders will attack farmers in their farms, kill them, shoot them, mame them, and then finish their products, their crops.
“So when we now called the meetings of the miyetti Allah, the Association has been helping us. They’ve been helping us. So we used to have little, little cases that are being reported, and then we also go with the same Fulani group. They will tell us who did that and could get him apprehended and prosecute him, after perhaps maybe paying to the victims, both the destructions he has done, we will still go to court and tender evidence and at the end of the day, he will be jailed. So with that, we have gotten solution to this grazing problem in Akwa Ibom State”
He pointed out that another key factor in the fight against crime in the state was the support from the Internal Affairs.
“The Internal Affairs is always readily available to support us in terms of this movement, as a matter of fact, he dedicated vehicles for us that anytime we want to go for such operations, we should immediately let him know.
“The team has army officers and the police can be moved to that place, the Fulani pointers are also with us, so that we go there.they tell us, these are the cows of so, so person. We follow them up to where they are, and then we get them apprehended. So this has drastically reduced the incident. And we also at the verge of eradicating it in Akwa Ibom State.”
On his message to the people of the state, the CP said “The people of the state should please continue to support the police. Support us. If you see something, say something, and the police will do something. If you keep quiet, we will not know, we are not magicians.
“The crimes happens within your own environment, within your own community. So it is only when you make a call to police that the police will take into cognizance that this thing is happening, and then they will go and nip it in the bud before it happens.
“So, please cooperate with us, support us, and give us all the information we require to discharge our responsibilities. That is the call I have to members of the public, and I thank them so far for the support they have been giving us.
“Akwa Ibomites are very wonderful people. They are very supportive people. They are very understanding people, and they like peace. So we should continue to enjoy the peace in the state and attract many conferences, seminars, and also many businesses and investments into Akwa Ibom state.” he concluded