The Inspector-General of Police (I-G), Mr Usman Baba, has called on police operatives to embrace holistic and effective intelligence gathering in the prevention of crime and criminal activities in the country.

The Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO), CSP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, said this in a statement in Abuja.

Baba said preventive policing was important because it prevented the occurrence of crime, engendered peace and ensured provision of optimal policing services to the citizenry.

The I-G said his administration would not relent in fighting crimes, criminality, and general state of insecurity to a standstill in Nigeria.

The I-G commended the Police Command in Oyo State and the Force Intelligence Bureau Intelligence Response Squad (FIB-IRT) for their recent successes in crime fighting.

He said the operatives recorded the successes through deployment of technologically advanced assets, community based and the traditional policing methods and improved police visibility.

Baba said the achievements were recorded via identification, trailing and arrest of criminal suspects through actionable technical and human intelligence.

He said the intelligence led to the arrest of six members of a notorious bank robbery gang after concluding plans to execute a bloody bank robbery attack on a new generation bank within the Ibadan metropolis in Oyo State.

The I-G said the FIB-IRT had also arrested five members of a fraud syndicate specialised in hacking into bank accounts of individuals and corporate bodies to steal monies.

According to him, the suspects got apprehended while attempting to hack into a company’s account and steal the sum of N3.4 billion.