BEVERLY HILLS, CA, December 08, (THEWILL) – Delta State Governor Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan has warned community leaders to desist from protecting criminals in their midst as they would be prosecuted as accessories to the crime, just as the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Mohammed Abubakar presented his scorecard to Nigerians.
Dr. Uduaghan who gave the warning at the weekend in Asaba during the Scorecard presentation to Nigerians by the Inspector General of Police(IGP), Mr. Mohammed Abubakar, said it was criminal for anybody to protect criminals.
“Elders and leaders should help to fish out criminals in their communities and should not protect or celebrate criminals because anyone caught doing so will be treated as criminals,” he stated.
Speaking further the governor noted that the state government was not in support of this criminal attitude and would not condone such unwholesome act.
In particular, the Governor condemned the attitude of elders and people of Kokori community in the state who have made it difficult for security operatives in the state to fish out the remnants of the kidnap and armed robbery gang living among them.
He observed that the leaders and elders in the communities who celebrate their children involved in criminal activities only portray their communities in bad light: “This is bad especially when the state is doing all within its power to fight crime”.
He commended the Police for employing community policing in the reduction of crime in Delta State, adding that all the security agencies have ensured that Delta State is safe for people and organizations to carry out their business.
Governor Uduaghan commended the Inspector-General of Police for choosing Delta State for the second presentation of his scorecard disclosing that the state was happy to host the event
According to him “Today, Delta State is safe. Criminal activities have been greatly reduced. This is as a result of the collaboration among security agencies in the state”.
Presenting his stewardship and achievements, the Inspector General of Police Mr. Mohammed Abubakar stated that the Federal Government has approved a new Police Pension Board to be managed by the Police as a result of the loss of their 300billion naira in the previous pension fund.
The Inspector General observed that corruption has been reduced by about 80% in the Nigerian Police force by the removal of road blocks saying “We are doing our very best to ensure that corruption is reduced in the police force. Several police officers have been dismissed from the force as a result of bribery and corruption”.
He explained that when his administration came on board about 110,000 police were due for promotion adding that 75,000 officers have been promoted while the remaining 35,000 would begin their training for promotion in January 2014.
The IGP stressed the need for Nigerians to cooperate and collaborate with the Police stating that Police officers have been made to obey laws as one of the steps to ensure that they were good enforcers of the law.
According to him, “enforcers of law must not be seen breaking the law, we ensure attitudinal change and introduced a new code of conduct for the Nigeria Police.”
