Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) in charge of Southwest Zone, Mr. Foluso Adebanjo, has rated Ekiti State as having the lowest crime rate in Nigeria, hinging this on the high level of professionalism existing among his men in the State.
This is as the Police Community Relations Committee (PCRC) and other stakeholders frowned on the incessant transfer of the Commissioners of Police out of Ekiti police command, saying the scenario always led to the regrouping of criminals to unleash terror on the citizens.
The DIG spoke in Ado Ekiti on Thursday during a stakeholders’ meeting, where police officers in the command, led by the CP, Alhaji Abdullahi Chafe, were present.
Adebanjo saluted the courage of his men in tackling criminalities, urging them to be dedicated to duties and expect commensurate rewards from government and members of the public.
“The crime rate in Ekiti is very low, in fact, the lowest in the country. The police anywhere in the world can’t do it alone without the cooperation and consent of the people. You need to work with critical stakeholders to achieve a crime-free society.
“The Inspector General of Police, Mr Ibrahim Idris is committed to the task of giving our men incentives. Before now, Inspectors used to spend over 14 years before becoming superintend of police, but such has been corrected and other rank and file positions.
“Apart from promotion, we are working on the housing scheme for our men to be able to own a house after retirement. We are also improving on the medicals , so that our men who sustained injuries in the course of performing their tasks can get the best treatment and many other
incentives .
“Let us do this job conscientiously. Don’t be labeled corrupt officers , this is not good for the image of the force locally and globally. Do this job very well and you will not regret it because you are doing God’s job and your reward shall surely come”, he said.
Harping on the police to ensure protection of human rights, Adebanjo added that the proposal for the recruitment of 30,000 policemen annually would automatically take care of the shortfall in the personnel in some states, including Ekiti.
“As we speak now, 10,000 people are undergoing training and the proposal is that 30,000 will be trained yearly for the next ten years. So, we have a work plan and we must not allow few criminals to destroy the beautiful name and respect Nigeria commands globally”.
The CP said the command will continue to form a solid synergy with other sister agencies to make Ekiti a no-go-area for criminals, saying the command has opened a platform where they hget veracious information from the public.
The PCRC Chairman in Ekiti, Mr Adetunji Omodara and the Chairman of the National Union of Road Transport Workers(NURTW), Com Clement Adekola, queried the rationale behind incessant transfer of CPs out of Ekiti, urging the IG to stop the scenario in the interest of stability in security network.