Concerned citizens of Edo State on Monday called for immediate redeployment of Haliru Gwandu, Edo State Commissioner of Police over unabated cases of armed robbery and criminality across the state as earlier directed by the Police Service Commission (PSC).
The Group stated this in a petition sent to the Senate President, Bukola Saraki and Yakubu Dogara, Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Similar petitions were presented to Ibrahim Idris, Inspector of General of Police (IGP) and the Police Service Commission (PSC) during a peaceful protest stage in Abuja, over the worsening acts of criminality in the state.
Among other things, Gwandu is said to have been overwhelmed by criminals and showed nonchalant attitude to tackling the deteriorating security challenge across the state.
The stakeholders, mostly volunteers, also called for deployment of a team of intelligence officers to work with a new CP to ensure that crime related information is analysed intelligently and used to process the arrest of criminals and all shades of criminality in the state.
Henry Okpamen, Coordinator, Edo State Concerned Citizens who spoke during the protest march to the National Assembly and Police Headquarters, frowned at the spate of kidnapping, rape and murder, adding that “people can’t go out with an assurance that they can return back home.”
He alleged that the security situation in the state under the watch of Gwandu, has “degenerated to its lowest level in decades and now probably worse than when some parts of the South-South were overrun by the militants.”
Okpamen said not even the police is spared in the current onslaught as three members of the rank and file were recently shot dead by criminals.
In the bid to address the challenges, the group which called for Federal Government’s intervention, stressed the need to immediately deploy armed police to all flashpoints within the state with special focus on the waterways and adjoining communities.
Okpamen said there’s currently a confusion over the police leadership in the state, a development which has given room for uncertainty and some form of lawlessness.
He said the developmental objectives of the administration led by Governor Godwin Obaseki are being threatened by the refusal of Inspector General of Police to replace Gwandu and return normalcy to the security situation.
“This confusion is fueled by the fact that Edo people woke up on the 5th of July, 2017 to see a press statement duly signed by the head, press and Public Relations of the Police Service Commission, one Mr. Ikechukwu Ani to the effect that there is a change in the leadership of the Police Command in Edo State.
“The statement was to the effect that Mr. Haliru Gwandu would be replaced by one Mr. Johnson Babatunde Kokumo as Edo Commissioner of Police. Amazingly, to the consternation of Edo people and Nigerians, three clear months since the announcement, the change has not been effected,” he alleged.
Okpamen lamented that Gwandu has failed to “demonstrate expected professional competence, knowledge and zeal towards securing the state and mobilising his men towards achieving the key objectives of policing the state.”
He said in most of the kidnapping cases, the embattled Police Commissioner had demonstrated unprofessional conducts and often times obstructed what would have been successful efforts to release captives.
According to him: “at a point and on daily basis, the Okada junction in Ovia North East LGA became a criminal hide out with adverse implications for residents and travellers along the Lagos-Benin
expressway.”
He lamented that the arrogance and professional misconduct exhibited by Gwandu made him to “develop an isolationist attitude and approach towards sister security agencies in the state especially the Nigerian Army and the Department of State Security Services.
“While the DSS and the Nigerian Army continued to work together and frequently share intelligence information, Mr Gwandu has refused to work with them thereby leading to the upsurge of kidnapping and inability of the Police to work with security tips supplied by the general public and other sister agencies,” the petition read in part.
The group also demanded an apology from the IGP for not showing enough concern to the continuous Insecurity in the state and retaining an incompetent police officer as Commissioner of Police.
“He should show plight to the Edo people, take immediate steps to reassure them of safety of lives and properties and reverse the deteriorating morale among his officers and men in the State Police
Command,” Okpamen added.
KEHINDE AKINTOLA, Abuja
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