Nkechinyere Ewa-Okpara
AIG Kanayo Uzuegbu, the Assistant Inspector-General of Police, zone 9 Umuahia, Abia state Wednesday urged men and officers of Ebonyi police command to remain professional in performing their duties.
AIG Kanayo Uzuegbu spoke during a working visit to the Ebonyi State Command in Abakaliki.
He said his visit was to boost the morale of the officers and urged them to operate according to the law establishing the police act in the country.
“As I said in my lecture, I came here to interface with them, to build their capacity, to build their confidence. When I build up this; they will do more”. He said.
“We have a fundamental duty to do. Unethical conduct is not allowed, you have to do your job as stipulated by law. It has to be done by fact, not by fancy.
“You have to do your job as stipulated by law. Separatist groups (IPOB) have been allegedly attacking facilities, including police in the South East. But in recent times, there has not been any recorded attack or allegation of such coming from the police.
The AIG after addressing the officers at the command proceeded to the government house on a courtesy visit to the state governor Francis Nwifuru
CP Uche Anya, the commissioner of police Ebonyi state command, in her remarks, noted that the Command is staffed by brave and dedicated officers who work diligently to address various crime patterns with professionalism and competence in the state.
The CP, however, said the command is facing a shortage of manpower and calls for an upgrade.
“It is important to note that the Command is facing a shortage of manpower, which is a common issue affecting the Nigeria Police Force.”
She said the command has been able to combat crimes in the state since she assumed office as the 27th commissioner of police to serve the state.
“The prevalent crimes in the Command include cultism, communal clashes, murder, boundary disputes, and activities related to separatist groups (IPOB).
She further explained, that the Command has thoroughly analyzed crime trends and adopted proactive strategies to combat them through community policing, high visibility policing, intelligence-led policing, and extensive raids on criminal hideouts and hotspots in the state.
“Since I assumed duty as the 27th Commissioner of Police on September 17, 2024, I have built upon existing strategies to address security challenges in the state. I visited the thirteen local government areas in the state, engaged with chairpersons, critical stakeholders, and other members of the communities and gathered firsthand information about their challenges and effective ways to police their communities, and this has yielded dividends.
“We have successfully addressed various security challenges in the state through stakeholder dialogue. This approach has been instrumental in managing the communal issues and land and boundary disputes in different communities in the state.
“In anticipation of communal issues that arise during the farming season, we have used stakeholder dialogues to address and resolve brewing or lingering issues in various communities around the state. We engaged key stakeholders from Ekpaomaka and Inyimagu communities in Ikwo LGA and this engagement helped us arrest principal actors and others fanning the embers of communal crisis in that area”.