By Chizoba Ogbeche
Abuja
The Assistant Inspector-General of Police in charge of Zone 7, AIG Adebowale Williams, has commended the Commissioner of Police in charge of the FCT, CP Haruna Garba, and officers and men of the command on achievements recorded in recent times, even as he tasked the command on intelligence led, and technology driven policing.
AIG Williams, who stated this while addressing officer and men of the Command, On Thursday, during a familiarisation visit, noted that there was still room for improvement.
“I must commend the efforts of the CP FCT and his management team as well as all officers and men of the FCT command for several breakthroughs that have been recorded in recent times.
“… I note with commendation your strategic partnership with other security agencies within the FCT. This goes to show that you are in tune with reality. The present challenges require a multifaceted approach and no single agency in the present circumstances can do it all alone.
“Notwithstanding, the commendable achievements recorded so far, there is room for improvement. Modern policing is intelligence led, community based and technology driven,” the police boss stated.
AIG Williams, who stated that, modern day policing in a democratic setting like ours cannot be without its own share of challenges, noted that, evolution in technology has its own share of consequences.
According to the police boss, “We must, therefore, work harder to enhance our intelligence capacity and capability; we must take advantage of the Police Technical Intelligence Unit (TIU); Crime Database Unit; NPF National Cybercrime Section; and the NPF Interpol; among others to enhance our proactive policing.
“We must improve on visibility policing; we must sustain strategic partnership with other security agencies and other stakeholders; we must improve on traffic control within the FCT. Traffic officers must be on their toes to ensure traffic flows within the FCT.”
Willaims, who further charged the command to reinvigorate stop and search devoid of extortion, warned field officers against unethical and unprofessional behaviours as they would be held accountable.
Earlier, in his welcome address, CP Garba noted that FCT as the seat of government, with the population of over five million as well as being bordered by Niger, Nasarawa, Kogi, and Kaduna states, makes the job of law enforcement very difficult.
Garba, who disclosed that the command has six Area Commands; 46 Divisional Headquarters; 99 Out Station (Out Post); informed the AIG, “that the Command under my watch is doing all it can to restore public confidence in the Force by encouraging the people to participate in the activities that will ultimately reduce crime and criminality.”
According the CP, “The challenges of the Command is not but limited to the following; inadequate manpower, especially drivers; inadequate patrol vehicles and fuelling.”
He explained that, “Fuelling the patrol vehicles to undertake round the clock patrol of the city has become a big challenge.”
Addressing the officers and men on activities of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) National Cyber Crime Centre (NPF NCCC), the Director in charge of the centre, DCP Ifeanyi Henry Uche, observed that policing was moving from analogue to digital, urged the officers to leverage on the centre’s capabilities.
He maintained that the era where one could not get digital evidence was gone as every crime leaves digital footprints which could be effectively extracted and analysed by the centre.
According to DCP Uche, “NPF NCCC is the best outside Europe. We have the best of capabilities. We have the capacity to monitor the Nigerian cyber space. We can effectively respond to cyber attacks, and we have been able to help other organisations.”
Uche, who disclosed that NCCC was made up of police officers who have been trained and certified in relevant fields, said the centre has not less than 25 ethical hackers and hacker forensic officers.
In his goodwill message, the Chairman, Eminent Persons Forum, Alhaji Abubakar Ali, made case for consideration of the issue of fueling.
He called for the speedy implementation of the proposed withdrawal of police personnel from VIPs as the police budget could no longer fund it, noting that there could be recruitment into the police protection unit and VIPs are made to pay for their services.
On his part, Police Community Relations Committee (PCRC), National Chairman, Alhaji Ibrahim Olaniyan, commended the FCT Command on the maintenance of law and order in the FCT.
He pledged the commitment of the committee to partner with the police in the fight against crime, and assured that PCRC in the 36 states and FCT would assist in fuelling patrol vehicles in order to cushion the effect of the fuel price hike.
