Good afternoon gentlemen and ladies of the press. I welcome you all to this press conference being my first briefing since taking over as the Thirty Sixth (36th) Commissioner of Police, Imo State Police Command. Upon my assumption of duty on 4/05/2020, I met a relatively peaceful environment. This can be ascribed to the hard work and commitment to duty by the officers and men of the Command as well as the peace-loving nature of the good people of Imo State and the support of the state government. The crime fighting structure on ground is good but like all good things, they can be made better by modifications and fine-tuning and this I intend to do. The process of modification will however be seamless given the professionalism, hard work and dedication I have seen of the officers and men.
It is my optimism that the Command will achieve great success in the area of crime prevention and detection as a lot of energy will be put into this. Criminals are therefore advised to stay clear of this state as they will not be spared in any way.
There is also good synergy and collaboration among the security agencies in the state. The cooperation of the good people of Imo State with the Police Command in its fight against crime will no doubt bring about the much desired peace in the state. The implications of this are that more investors will be attracted to the state which will lead to growth and development.
Under my watch, the Command will fully imbibe and practice the concept of Community Policing. In the coming day, the Advisory Committee of the Community Policing in the state will be inaugurated to kick start activities in this direction. To this end, Religious Leaders, Traditional Rulers, Civil Society Organizations, Transport Union Associations, Market Union Leaders and other stakeholders in security will be brought on board in our resolve to truly make Imo State a place for all.
This Command during my tenure will have absolute respect for human rights. To this end, we shall not tolerate any act of brutalization or incivility to members of the public. I therefore enjoin members of the public to kindly report all genuine grievances or unprofessional and unethical conduct of police officers to the Public Complaint Bureau (PCB) domiciled in the Police Public Relations Department or write directly to me for prompt and decisive action.
Furthermore, the command under my watch will not condone any act of corruption either at the Police Station/Offices, check points or highways. I enjoin all motorists to desist from giving money to policemen on the road, members of the public are also advised to report such infractions for necessary action.
Finally, upon my assumption of office a few weeks back, we took some drastic decisions in crime fighting which has yielded instant results. Sequel to that therefore, it is my pleasure to present to you 28 suspects arrested for different offences ranging from Kidnapping, Armed Robbery, Cultism etc. we shall continue to take the fight against violent crimes to the den/hideouts of these criminals in our quest to rid Imo State of crime.
While we urge members of the public to partner with us by giving useful information aimed at assisting us nip violent crimes in the bud, we also appeal to “Ndi Imo” to kindly adhere to all the government rules and directives on Covid-19 Pandemic which includes social distancing/restrictions and personal hygiene procedures, as the Command is all out to enforce the rules to the latter.
Thank you and God bless you all.
