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- As Benue, Kogi Police launch joint task force to flush out border criminal havens
Governor Hyacinth Alia has lauded the Operation Handshake Patrol idea of the Inspector General of Police, Olatunji Rilwan Disu, expressing optimism that it will enhance security checks at border areas and dislodge criminal havens.
Speaking in a statement issued by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor of Benue State, Sir Tersoo Kula, Alia said that with the determination and sincerity of personnel, a situation where criminals use a neighbouring state as a haven after committing mayhem in another state will become a thing of the past.
He pledged to sustain his special attention on supporting security agencies to secure Benue State.
The Governor’s statement follows a joint meeting held last Thursday by Commissioners of Benue and Kogi State Commands at Ankpa Local Government Conference Hall.
The Commissioners of Police at the meeting announced the setting up of the joint Taskforce named, explaining that it was meant to ensure the safety of lives and property of residents around the border communities of the two states.
The two commissioners, Cletus Nwudiogbu of Benue State and Naziru Bello Kankarofi of Kogi, explained that establishing the joint task force was in response to the directive from the Inspector General of police to ensure there was no hidden place for criminal elements at the border communities of the two states by breaking the barriers of Jurisdiction.
Cletus Nwudiogbu elaborated further that with the Operation Handshake, police from Benue and Kogi have taken over the forest of the two states.
He added that there would be no haven for criminal elements between the two states as police could enter any state to arrest any bandit, criminal or terrorist who commits a crime and runs to hide in another.
He said the two police commands have also provided the citizens of the two states with an appropriate channel where they would lodge their complaints without taking the law into their hands, saying they would remain resolute in the restoration of peace at the border communities.
On his part, Bello Kankarofi said the event was a practical demonstration of the two police commands’ shared commitment aimed at strengthening security at their borders so that those communities would remain safe for law-abiding citizens and called on the Governors of the two states to provide the required logistics for effective patrol of security personnel between the two states.
He charged police officers to be professional in their conduct and also ensure that the host communities set an agenda for them for effective policing, and assured the residents of the two states that they would soon see tangible results from the collaboration.
He also commended Governor Hyacinth Alia of Benue and Usman Dodo of Kogi for their passion for the safety of their citizens.
The Commander of the Twenty-One Brigade, Ankpa, Kogi State, Lieutenant Colonel JS Monde, assured that the Nigerian Army would continue to support the police and other sister security agencies towards achieving peace in border communities and called on members of the public to always provide credible and timely information to security agencies to enable them to secure their communities.
