Abia state Commissioner of Police, Alhaji Usman Tilli Abubakar has called on kidnappers and other criminals in the state to relocate to other states or have themselves to blame, assuring the police would smoke them out.
“Abia state is not safe for criminals. With the strategies we have devised, we will smoke them out no matter where they are hiding.”
Addressing policemen at the Aba Area Command during his familiarization of police divisions in the state, Abubakar said the fight against crime cannot be done by the police alone, but would only succeed if the people are involved.
“We cannot fight crime without the support of the public. The IGP, Mohammed Abubakar has introduced the system of policing in partnership with the community. The community is very important; we must take them along in the fight against crime and service delivery. We must involve the people because they know each other; the good and bad people. We call on the community, the media and other stakeholders to work with police.
It is only when we work together that we can secure our state. We have given out our phone numbers to ensure to people reach us with information about criminals. We assure them that they are protected,” he said.
On the kidnapping incidents which seem to be resurfacing in the city, Abubakar warned kidnappers to leave the state as he is determined to smoke them out.
“We are calling on the kidnappers to relocate; Abia state is not free for them. There have been only four cases of kidnapping and we rescued three and reunited them with their families. Even when we got reports that the wife of the former Transition Chairman of a local government was kidnapped, we swooped into action, so the police is not resting. Every policeman is involved including the Commissioner of Police. The public can always count on us for the protection of lives and property of Abia people.”
Earlier in his address, the Aba Area Commander of the Nigeria Police, ACP Rabiu Dayi lauded the initiative of the CP to acquaint himself with the problems of police formations in the Command.
He listed the challenges confronting the sixteen police divisions under his Command to include shortage of manpower, police station operating in rented premises, dilapidated barracks, inadequate communication gadgets, arms and ammunitions and non availability of serviceable vehicles.
Dayi stated that officers and men of the command boasts of exceptional police officers who are dedicated to their duties and appealed to the Commissioner to look into their problems with a view to boosting their morale.