Within four months of his posting to head the Nigerian Police Force in Oyo State, the State’s Commissioner of Police, Mr Abiodun Adekunle Odude has described the Pace-Setter State, which was hitherto known as a volatile State, as one of the safest places in Nigeria, adding that his men have been working ceaselessly to ensure peace and order in the state.
Speaking at an interview with CEOAfrica on its Online Television Programme, ‘Community Today’, on Thursday 29th June, 2017, Mr Odude enumerated some of the achievements of the Police in stemming the tide of crime in the State within the past four months under his watch.
Mr Odude who resumed duty as the Oyo Police Commissioner on the 1st of March, 2017 stated that since his assumption of office, the security agency in the state has been able to solve numerous cases ranging from armed robbery, kidnap cases, cultist activities, to ritual activities, trailer hijack and hooliganism.
Oyo State Commissioner of Police, Mr Abiodun Adekunle Odude speaking during an interview with CEOAfrica
The Police Commissioner highlighted “So far, I can tell you clearly that we’ve had 21 cases of armed robbery cases reported. In all those cases, we have arrested 95 suspects, recovered 27 firearms, 10 vehicles and 139 rounds of live ammunitions. In cases if kidnapping, we’ve had 6 and we broke all of them. We arrested 24 suspects and rescued the 5 victims that were involved. We recovered 4 firearms and 30 rounds of ammunitions.
“We’ve solved two cases of trailer hijack, arrested 3 suspects and in that process, we recovered 11 other vehicles. In cultism, we’ve had 2 major cases, we’ve been able to arrest 390 suspects and we’ve charged all of them to court. We had 2 cases of ritualists where we arrested 3 suspects. These are the statistics of what we have done so far. Like I said, we are working day and night to make sure that the people of Oyo State sleep with their two eyes closed,” said the Police Chief.
Efforts on ‘One Million Boys’
Speaking about Police efforts to nab the dreaded group called the ‘One Million Boys’ who terrorise the State, the Police Commissioner said “They are area boys who call themselves ‘One Million Boys’ and ‘Indomie’ – there are actually two groups – but we have dealt with them. In the last three months, we have arrested much more than 700 of them, charged them to court and they have mellowed down so much.
“But one or two of them show face from time to time and as they show face we deal with them. They are just cultists and area boys who attack people unnecessarily, deprive them of their means of livelihood and they use weapons. ‘One Million Boys’ is not a problem at all. We have dealt with them and we will continue to deal with them but you can’t eradicate crime completely. We will however make sure we arrest them as much as possible but they are nothing to worry about,” the CP assured.
A Cross Section of Police Officers at Media Chat with CEOAfrica
While encouraging the public to collaborate with the police to fight crime in the state, Mr Odude stated that the Oyo State Police has an information centre where people can call in to report crime and societal anomalies. The number of the Police Control room as given by the CP is 08081768614. He also gave his personal mobile number, (08035952070) and that of the Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO (08036536581).
Mr Odude assured that the Control room number is functional and operates on a 24 hours basis, adding that any information provided to the control room will be relayed to the appropriate authorities. He also noted that his personal phone number and that of top police officers in the state can also be called at any time.
Police Reward System
Speaking about the effort the Nigerian Police Force in motivating and encouraging the hard work of its officers, the Police Chief stated that the security agency from time to time adopt the ‘carrot and stick’ approach to encourage or punish its officers. He said “What we do in the police is what we call ‘carrot and stick’ method. If you do well, we will encourage you, if you commit a crime, we will punish you. But the IGP is very passionate about motivation and he does that by way of promoting hardworking men.
“If you have done your job well and we write a recommendation for you, once the IGP sees the recommendation, he promotes you. In other words, because you are working hard, you will begin to get above your contemporaries and the mind is motivated to go on. Sometimes, the IGP introduces some cash gifts to make a hardworking officer do more.”
Oyo State Commissioner of Police (L) with Mr Cletus Ilobanafor (R) during the Interview
Corruption in the Police Force
Reacting to a question on the spate of bribery and corruption among members of the Nigerian Police Force, the Police Commissioner stated that the Force has zero tolerance for such vices, adding that any officer caught indulging in it risks dismissal from the force or jail term if it is a severe case. “I can tell you with all sincerity and honesty that in Nigeria today, there is no organisation that punishes bribery and corruption like the Nigerian Police Force.
“Anytime a policeman is found involved in any crime of bribery and corruption, it is automatic that he is dismissed. If the case is so severe, we also charge him to court. We don’t hide corrupt officers. When we see a police man commit a crime, we bring it out in the newspaper and expose him. So the Police do not give chance at all for bribery and corruption. We admit that there may be some ‘Judases’ but those bad eggs, we will continue to catch them and deal with them,” the CP stated.
Responding to another question on the effort of the Police to stem the tide of extra-judicial killings by some trigger-happy policemen, the Police Commissioner explained that measures have been put in place by the Force to train police officers in the country on the proper use of firearms. “What the IGP has done recently is to ask the AIG in charge of operations to go round the whole commands in the country and lecture the men and to find out their proficiency in arms control.
“Security is a very expensive venture and it is unfortunate that that kind of training is not immediately available to us because of the cost. A policeman should be trained to be going to range every 6 months, but it’s expensive. Ammunitions are not easy to come by. But within the limit of what we have, we are trying to cope and we have been receiving a lot of support from the top management. Once we get the resources, we will try to make sure that we train our men,” the Police Chief noted.
Oyo State Commissioner of Police flanked by Journalists present at the Media Chat
The Police Commissioner, in conclusion, urged members of the public to shun crime and live as law abiding citizens. He said “No matter how many criminal exploits a criminal has achieved, one day, he will be caught, so what is the essence. If people can shun crime and live reasonable lives, Nigeria is a country with wonderful resources that if you take your time to think very well, you’ll get a legitimate means of livelihood. It is left to us Nigerians to work together for the betterment of the nation.”
