From Agaju Madugba, Katsina
The Inspector-General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba has commended the Katsina State Police Command for its giant strides in combating crime in the state. This follows the Command’s arrest of 1503 high-profile criminal suspects, rescue of 393 kidnapped victims and reuniting them with their families, and its recovery of 4-GPMG, 37 AK-47 rifles, 2-G3 rifles, 288 anti-aircraft ammunition and 118 AK47 ammunition.
The IGP who gave the commendation during a one-day official visit to Katsina State on Thursday, as part of his efforts at carrying out on-the-spot security assessment in the state noted that the feat will help to improve public confidence, and at mobilizing members of the public and other credible stakeholders against crimes. Moreover, it will help to boost the confidence of police operatives in the Command and to provide the needed leadership for onslaught against crimes and criminality, he said.
Baba, a crime fighter par excellence himself, noted that the operational strategies currently being implemented by the Force to stabilize security order across the country and improve public safety has begun to yield positive and significant results. Giving a breakdown of the figures, he added that 1,503 suspects arrested were involved in different violent crimes in the state. They include: kidnapping, banditry, armed robbery, sexual and gender-based crimes, etc. They comprised 267-armed robbers, 304 kidnappers, 97 bandits, amongst others.
He assured the nation that despite the harsh operational environment in which police officers operate, the Force would continue to improve on the gains in the fight against crime across the country. He then called on parents and guardians, traditional rulers, political leaders and religious leaders and other critical stakeholders, to provide necessary leadership, counseling, mentoring and support needed to guide citizens, particularly, our youths, out of the path of crime and criminality.
But in related development, the Katsina State Governor, Alhaji Aminu Bello Masari, has reacted to a story published in the Daily Sun of yesterday, with the headline, “Masari passes vote of no confidence in IGP,” describing it as false. The Governor who made this known through a press conference addressed, yesterday, by his Director-General (Media), Abdul Labaran Malumfashi, Masari said that he was “deeply disappointed” with the report.
“In the speech of His Excellency, there was nowhere, there was no place he inferred that he passed a vote of no confidence in the IGP,” the DG said. “There was nothing in his speech to indicate that. If the Governor passed such vote of no confidence, the IGP would not have sent a delegation led by the Commissioner of Police to express his appreciation for the warm reception he was given in Katsina.”
In its reaction, the Katsina State Police Command also denied the story.
“The fact of the matter was that on 2nd September, 2021, the Inspector-General of Police, IGP Alkali Usman Baba visited Katsina State Police Command on a one-day working visit, and as the tradition demands, he paid a courtesy visit on His Excellency, the Executive Governor of Katsina State, Rt. Hon. Aminu Bello Masari, in his office at the Government House, Katsina.
“The IGP was warmly received by the state governor, some members of the State Executive Council, the legislature, the Deputy Governor, the State Chief Judge, and Senator representing Katsina Southern Senatorial District among other important personalities, including many journalists from the Katsina State Correspondents’ Chapel. The Command wishes to emphasise that there was no time the state Governor made such remarks of no confidence in the Inspector-General of Police.”
