From Ighomuaye Lucky
Edo State police command, on Friday, paraded 71 suspects, arrested for various crimes ranging from kidnapping, armed robbery, murder, rape, assault and cultism.
He gave the breakdown as follow, armed robbery suspects, 17, kidnappers, 11, cultists, 26, murdered suspects, 6, ritualists, 3, assault suspects, 2 and 1 rapist.
Briefing newsmen before the parade of the suspects at the state command, the state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Phillip Aliyu Ogbadu, said the arrest was done within the three weeks of his stay in the state.
Mr. Ogbadu said that to get the state back on track and get rid of crimes in the state, the command is going to work with the hunters and the vigilance group because of their familiarisations with the terrians adding that such will also augment for the shortage of manpower in the command.
“The concept of community policing as adopted by the Inspector General of Police is being injected in policing the state, strategic stake holders are carried along to play security advisory roles.
“Support of the people is critical for effective policing of its community.
” To bridge the gap created by shortage of manpower, the command is liaising with Vigilante groups in policing the state”, he said.
Ogbadu also averred that the command has visited other sister agencies in making the state crime-free.
“The command has visited all security agencies in a bid to strengthen synergy among security agencies so as to foster inter agency collaboration”, he said.
CP Ogbadu said the command has mapped out various approaches to stem the tide of crimes.
“The command is faced with various major crime of kidnapping, armed robbery, cultism and other.
” As such, the command devised several security strategies to prevent crime and ensure a secure, safe and stable environment for economic progress and social interaction.
“The command adopted due diligence system of administration, robust tactical operations, and ensured that cases are properly investigated and prosecuted.
“Highlights of the activities undertook in the period under review are:-
“Anticrime patrols and raid operations around identified black spots, are on ongoing, bush combing patrols are also ongoing in the state, town hall stakeholders meetings have commenced and will be regularly held to review the security situations, engagement of community members in accordance with community policing philosophy of the IGP”, he said.
He said the command has started and will continue to work towards boosting the morale of its personnel, improve their performance and building public confidence towards the police.