Bamigbola Gbolagunte, Akure
Ondo State Commissioner of Police Undie Adie has issued a warning to police officers under his command monitoring the boundaries of the state as part of measures to contain the spread of COVID-19.
This comes as the commissioner has expressed worry about the attitude of officers of the state police command to the exercise.
He said he was particularly disturbed by the way in which some vehicles entered the state despite the closure of the boundaries, adding that the police officers manning the boundaries should be blamed for the development.
He enjoined all officers of the command to put in more effort in their service to the state.
Adie urged police officers to show professionalism by exhibiting a high sense of commitment and dedication to their duty.
He directed that the officers should be on alert at all times to ensure crimes and criminality in the command are thoroughly decimated.
“More and more people [are] demanding more increase in their services to contain the spread of the deadly coronavirus,” the police chief stated.
Adie said he was particularly disturbed to notice that a Benue State-bound commuter bus carrying about 20 passengers from Lagos was seen in Akure.
This, he said, was especially worrisome having seriously warned his men at all entry points into the state to ensure no entry of any kind, except those considered to be on essential services.
He said he had directed the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge Operations to bring to book all those involved in the monitoring of the routes the bus passed through until it was apprehended in Akure.
Threatening to deal decisively with those found culpable in the passage of the Benue bound bus into Akure, Adie said: “Though border points into Ondo State are manned by a combination of all security agencies in the state, it is considered the prime duty of the Nigeria Police, who by their stand is the first on the frontline of internal security, to live up to their bidding by sincerely performing their tasks at this crucial moment without any blemish.”
“Since the state government announced the first index case, I completely placed my command on a new direction of correctness, sweeping away those with timid and unprofessional attitudes that may jeopardize the directives of the government, and I am bold to say that we are totally keeping with the tenets of professional policing, which is why the command is working at an incredibly rapid rate in order to cover all entry points into Ondo State,” Commissioner Adie stated.