…Says ‘I put my feet down to sanitise Awkuzu police station’
… ‘For every crime that happens, about 25 were averted’
The Anambra State Commissioner of Police, Aderemi Adeoye has said that the state command was intelligence-led, which according to him has been responsible for the results being recorded in the state under his watch.
Adeoye disclosed the efforts of the state command during an exclusive interview with BusinessDay Sunday.
He also spoke on how the command under him has been able to bring sanity into the once-dreaded Awkuzu police station that used to be occupied by the proscribed Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS).
Explaining why it would seem that the battle against insecurity is not being won in some states, he said: “When you say at the national level; national level is so vast; it is a different ball game with each state having its own peculiar challenges and different agencies having specialised roles to play. An agency is charged with gathering and sharing intelligence, even the police have an arm that deals with its criminal intelligence, security intelligence, among others.
“As an actor and a player in the field, I can tell you that those intelligence apparatus has been very effective. While a lame man would assess and say the situation is so terrible, I, as a practitioner, will say imagine what it could have been like if not the ongoing efforts. For example, intelligence has gotten to that level where they are able to intercept telephone conversations and know what someone is planning and pre-empt it. So, for every crime that happens, not less than 25 were averted.”
Asked why it seems that insecurity is festering while intelligence is failing, Adeoye said that a lot is going on that are not in the public domain.
“If you make it public, you will no longer be effective as intelligence gatherers. Some things must remain under wraps, but the bottomline is that the situation could have been much worse, otherwise left to their own devices, the insurgents would have taken over the whole place that there would be no more governance. In Anambra, we are intelligence-led,” he said.
The Anambra Police boss, who described the state as one of the toughest places to police in terms of the security challenges, however, said he was fulfilled facing the onerous task and delivering results.
On how he has brought civility into the once-notorious and dreaded Awkuzu police station, Adeoye said that he insisted that the right things must be done and that he read the riot acts.
“The station at Awkuzu used to be occupied by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS). I must say that bthe reform to change the operations and narratives of that place started before I assumed duty.
“First, you would recollect that the Inspector-General at the time disbanded SARS; they were rebranded, reformed, rechristened to Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team. So, they were redeployed across the state; fresh hands brought in, new operating code was put in place. So, when I came in, all I did was to put my feet down and warned the operatives and their commanders that I would not tolerate extra-judicial killings. That was the first thing – zero tolerance for extra-judicial killings; zero tolerance for brutality, for high-handedness and for subversion of justice.
“I warned them that everything must be above board. Everything must be done according to rule of law; no favour, no fear. I also provided them the equipment they needed for modern policing. I also made it open to the public that we are receptive to hearing their grievances if they had any. I delt with the complaints that came in. So, when they saw that my approach was for fairness, justice, openness, accountability, they imbibed the new approach and we are delivering tremendous result,” he said.
