Since the arrival of a new Police Commissioner in Kogi state, a new chapter of crimes prevention has emerged. OYIBO SALIHU reports that the CP has decided to do the ‘abnormal’ so that insecurity can be curtailed to a larger extent.
The protection of lives and property, according to Nigeria’s constitution, lays on the shoulders of governments at all levels. Without adequate security, citizens cannot sleep with both eyes closed while businesses cannot thrive in insecure society.
In Kogi state, for instance, insecurity has become a source of concern to residents as kidnappers and bandits unleash terrors on innocent citizens in rural areas across the state at will.
The three Senatorial Districts that form Kogi state have their own share of insecurity, but worst affected in the recent past is Western Senatorial District of the state where kidnappers abducted people including traditional rulers and retired military officers at will, making demand in the form of huge ransom before their victims can regain their freedom, else die in captivity.
Hitting the ground running
However, with the arrival of CP Miller Dantawaye an experienced operational and professional officer to the state, the trend seems to be changing as he has zero tolerance for crime and criminalities.
CP Miller, who resumed duty in January, 2025 hits the ground running having heard about and seen for himself the deplorable security situation in rural communities of Kogi state.
His first approach in dealing with the situation was the training and retraining of combatant officers who are the foot soldiers in the fight against kidnapping and other criminal activities.
He thereafter organised an in-house refresher training for selected officers across all the divisions and police formations in the state to enable them uphold professionalism, commitment, hard work and improved service delivery.
The one-week intensive training, no doubt, has improved the mental capacity and weapons handling skills of officers which are critical for sustaining the ongoing onslaught against criminal elements in the state.
CP Miller further assured that the in-house refresher training would be sustained by the command in order to continue to give opportunities for officers to be equipped with the basic knowledge and skills to enhance efficiency and effectiveness in service delivery.
Conference/in-house trainings
However, not satisfied with the in-house training alone, the police boss went ahead to organise a strategic conference with senior officers, operational and tactical commanders, featuring enlightening lectures to enhance mental health and operational capacity for efficient performance.
During the conference held at the premises of the command headquarters in Lokoja recently, he charged officers to adopt comprehensive crime prevention and control strategies to contain activities of criminal elements in the state.
He further urged DPOs to intensify proactive crime prevention patrol as well as intelligence gathering through effective collaboration with critical stakeholders in their respective area of responsibilities. The CP also urged officers to intensify the stop-and-search operations as he cautioned residents to be mindful of their movements, especially in high risk areas within the state.
The conference, also featured series of capacity building among officers by addressing often-overlooked aspects of their professional lives such as mental health, financial literacy and community service.
At the conference, lectures were delivered by Dr Ehiz a seasoned psychologist, NPF Micro-Finance Bank, National Blood Transfusion Service as well as Rotary Club International which were all geared towards an improved proficiency of police men in the state.
Other strategies adopted
Apparently, the Commissioner of Police, a security strategist with enormous experience, who believes that policing which is protection of life and property, is not the responsibility of the Nigeria Police alone, in his significant move to strengthen grassroot security collaboration and community engagement, embarked on familiarisation tours of police formations and divisions across the state.
CP Miller Dantawaye later toured the 21 local government areas and paid courtesy visits to traditional rulers, religious leaders and youth organisations on the need to support the command in actualising its mandate of protection of lives and property as well as promoting community policing approach in the state.
Interestingly, his commitment towards ensuring that the state becomes one of the safest states in the country considering it’s strategic location as a state that borders 10 other states from the south and the north had achieved much for the state.
Results speak
Within few months, the effort started yielding results as the command arrested 75 kidnappers, 66 armed robbers and 93 others for various crimes across the state within the space of three months.
Parading the suspects at the Command Headquarters in Lokoja, CP Dantawaye who promised to safeguard the lives and property of Kogi residents, urged stakeholders to join hands with the force to actualise its mandate in securing the state.
To achieve that quest, he said that the command has adopted comprehensive crime prevention and control strategies through intensive patrol along the major highways, carried out raids on identified criminal hideouts, black spots and flash points, while conducting aggressive stop- and-search method as well as massive deployment of well-trained, equipped and motivated officers.
He speaks
According to him, “In the task of guaranteeing protection of lives and property of all citizens in the current security challenges, the Nigeria Police has a critical role to play with specific regard to internal security.
“There is no police agency anywhere in the world, no matter how well trained, equipped or motivated, that can solely achieve its safety mandate without support from the public.
“I, therefore, urge citizens, particularly traditional rulers, religious leaders, opinion leaders, youth groups, market bodies, farmers, herders, vigilantes, hunters, transport union, okada union, tricycle union, among others, for their maximum support in the fight against criminalities in Kogi state,” he solicited.
He assures the people of the command’s unwavering commitment to adopting common problem-solving strategies embedded in the IGP’s community policing templates, which, he assured would help to improve public confidence in the service delivery.
The Commissioner of Police, however noted that the command has provided an avenue for effective collaboration with other critical stakeholders by giving them access to share information and intelligence that would assist in crimes control and management.
He hinted that the police has launched a relentless onslaught against kidnapping, armed banditry and other heinous crimes across Kogi, which has yielded positive results with the apprehension of 239 criminals of different shades within three months of his assumption of duty in the state.
He disclosed further that weapons recovered by the officers and men of the command from the hoodlums include five AK-47 rifles, green Sharon vehicles which were abandoned by gun runners on sighting the police at a checkpoint.
Other items recovered were two AK-49 rifles, nine magazines and 344 rounds of 7.62/39mm ammunition, 62 rounds of 5.56mm ammunition, two rounds of 7.62/59mm ammunition, one locally-made revolver barrel gun, one black pump-action magazine, nine expended AK ammunition, seven expended cartridges, two pump-action guns and two locally-made pistols.
Gallantry display by officer
In addition to these numerous achievements, the in-house training had also assisted an Inspector by the name Gimba Andrew attached to Department of Operations who recently displayed exceptional bravery in the line of duty.
The Inspector was said to have been attacked by four men who invaded a bank premises in one of the local government headquarters in the state. In an attempt by the attackers to disposses him of his rifle, Inspector Andrew applied the knowledge gained in the in-house training organised by the Commissioner. In the process, he engaged them and naturalised one while others fled.
This exceptional performance displaced by the Inspector spurred CP Miller Dantawaye to present a certificate of commendation to the gallant police officer to serve as a motivation for others to uphold courage and integrity in service.
CP Dantawaye while ensuring collaboration with the general public to provide credible and actionable intelligence that would lead to the busting of criminal activities in the state, assured that the command would continue to prioritise proactive policing strategies that would ensure a safe and secure environment for all residents, in line with the vision of the Nigeria Police Force under the leadership of the Inspector Genera of Police, (IGP) Kayode Adeolu Egbetokun.