IGP worries over rising crimes rate after election
By Andrew Orolua, Abuja
The Inspector general of Police (IGP), Mohammed Adamu, has expressed concern over the rising rate of crimes after the general election in the country.
He noted that while some police personnel have demonstrated a very high and commendable level of professional competence leading to the moderation of crimes in their commands, some seem to lose sense of commitment and duty.
He called to question their inadequate responses to threats within their jurisdictions.
Adamu, who disclosed this on Thursday in Abuja during a meeting with strategy police managers, said the current security realities in the country is unacceptable and intolerable.
The IGP however, commended Operation Puff Adder which was launched in Zamfara State last week. He said it had paid off with the arrests of 46 kidnappers and the recovery of 9 AK 47 rifles and 9 locally fabricated/automatic weapons.
The operation has also led to the death of ten suspected armed bandits, the rescue of two persons, recovery of 1300 AK47 live ammunition, 28 live cartridges and ten extra live magazines, he said.
Besides the operation, Adamu said that “criminal records point to a significant rise in crime following the conclusion of the general election.”
According to him, “while some security experts have attributed the trend to the disengagement of the criminal elements from politically-related activities for which they might have been engaged during the elections, others have attributed the trend to socio-economic factors.”
IGP Adamu said that while the debate on the cause of the upsurge in crime could be a subject of debate or academic conjecture, what remains undebatable is the fact that the primary and statutory duty of the Nigeria Police as the lead agency in internal security framework, “is the prevention and detection of crime and the maintenance of our internal security order.”
He said that the duty and responsibility of the police is to “assure the citizens of their safety and security without any form of excuses.”
IGP said that henceforth personnel professional competence will be measured by their capacity to dissect the trends and patterns of crimes within their Area of Jurisdiction, develop and modify crime management strategies and deploy human and material assets towards achieving a stable security order.
