Abia State Governor, Dr Okezie Victor Ikpeazu has pledged his administration’s continued support for the Nigeria Police to reduce crime and make Abia the safest State in the Nigeria.
The Governor was speaking at the Michael Okpara Auditorium, Umuahia during the inauguration of Abia State Homeland Security Watch and the Abia State Crime Prevention and Management System by the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar Adamu.
He said CPAMS was conceptualized by his administration as a way of supporting the IGP in his community policing effort with the capacity to provide solutions to policing not only in Abia State, but Nigeria as a whole.
Ikpeazu described as a misnomer in the 21st century, a situation where the police still record crimes on a black board, adding that he would like to see when all police divisions in the country would be linked to a digital platform to reduce crime.
The Governor expressed his dissatisfaction with the level of insecurity in the country.
According to him, proactive policing requires that a crime officer must be ahead of criminals adding that except there is a digital data base of criminals which can be used to support CCTV footages, crime will continue.
The Governor stated that with diligent implementation of CPAMS, it will be difficult for a criminal to be a first offender whereas he has criminal records elsewhere and recommended it to the IGP to help in policing of the country.
He added that with the system, community participation with the police will become easier and used the forum to announce that his administration will provide solar systems in all Police Divisions in the State as well as provide computers to all police formations and divisions including the office of the Inspector General of police, Deputy Inspector General of Police and the Commissioner of Police.
The Governor had earlier formally presented the IGP with patrol vans procured by his administration for the State Command of the Nigeria Police.
He also handed over patrol vehicles to the Brigade Commander of the Nigeria Army Ohafia to aid in the security of the State.
Earlier in his speech, IGP Mohammed Adamu expressed joy that Abia has taken the bull by the horn by creating a structure that will fill the gap in modern day policing.
He maintained that policing the community is the collective responsibility of all citizens and reminded the members of the Abia Homeland Security Watch that their role was to support and collaborate with the police through intelligence gathering.
The Inspector General of Police who had earlier paid a courtesy visit to the Governor on arrival, later commissioned the Zone 9 headquarters of the Nigeria police built by the administration of Governor Okezie Ikpeazu.
Responding to the presentation by the Governor of shoes produced at the Enyimba Automated Shoe Factory in Aba, the IGP pledged to make a strong case for a policy shift to encourage the use of locally made shoes by the Nigeria Police.
ABIA ONLINE gathered that the IGP had since departed for Abuja.
