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From Joe Effiong, Uyo
The Akwa Ibom State police Command has called on the in-coming governor of Akwa Ibom State, Pastor Umo Eno, to invest more in security, by making the police technologically driven, in order to maintain the inherent peaceful environment in the state.
The command’s spokesman, Mr Odiko MacDon, who said this while interacting with journalists in Uyo, explained that the police are successful in the state because the citizens have learned to substantially trust the police, just as the present administration has invested much in providing logistics support to the polity.
He said the Akwa Ibom State police command is doing so much without making noise about it, even as he acknowledged the peaceful disposition of the people of the state.
“Let me tell you, but for what the Nigeria Police is doing in partnership with other security agencies like the Nigerian Army and the DSS, and the enabling environment created by this administration, the robust partnership, it would have been worse.
“The governor has a listening ear as far as what should improve security in the state is concerned. For instance, the governor has provided us with logistics vehicles; he has also given us communication gadgets.
Communication is key, if you must get policing right. But the area we want them to come into, which will enhance policing in Akwa Ibom State is to make the force technologically-driven. Can you imagine that in the whole of this Barracks road now, there is not even one CCTV camera?
What I am saying is this; the incoming administration should prioritise this. The Akwa Ibom State command is calling on the incoming administration, and we believe that he has the capacity to digitise, to make policing in Akwa Ibom State technologically-driven.
“Let’s have CCTV cameras everywhere in Uyo. It is doable; it’s possible. Let’s have them in Ikot Ekpene; let’s have them in Eket; let’s have them in most towns if we cannot have them in all the villages and all the local government areas,” the PPRO said.
He disclosed that the emerging crime in Akwa Ibom now is the upsurge in car theft.
“I am calling on Akwa Ibomites to always keep their eyes on their vehicles because as a command, we recovered only recently seven exotic cars stolen from different parts of this state. The stolen cars were traced to their receivers and recovered and given back to the owners.”
He explained that the upsurge in car theft is a direct response to the fact that Uyo, the state capital, and even the entire state have opened up due to improved road network. He said criminality in Akwa Ibom State is evolving, and as such, the government must brace up to the challenge.
