Recently, the agitators belonging to the Indigenous People Of Biafra (IPOB) went on Facebook to call for sit-at-home in Delta State, to extend its practice in the South East states. Crime Editor, Oluwatoyin Malik, was with the state Commissioner of Police, Ari Mohammed Ali, in an interview on the issue, crude oil theft and others. Below are the excerpts:
Crude oil theft is known to be on the increase in the creeks. How has the command fought it so far?
The command is not resting on its oars when it comes to the issue of fighting against theft of crude oil, particularly in Delta State. We have extended our dragnets to all the nooks and crannies of the command. I have placed all area Commanders and Divisional Police Officers and tactical teams at alert to look out for this theft because crude oil is the major source of revenue for the government of this federation, so when this oil is being stolen by unknown faces here and there, you and I know that the revenue will drop and that will affect the economy of the nation.
The command is not folding its arms or sleeping on it. We are doing everything humanly possible to ensure that these criminals are arrested and of course dealt with in line with the provisions of the law. The command has so far arrested some of the criminals and prosecuted them. I can not precisely give you the statistics but I know that the command has arrested some of the criminals and investigation of some of them is ongoing
The election year is close and various political activities are ongoing. What measures are being taken to ensure peace in Delta State?
As far as politics is concerned in Delta state, one of our core mandates is to provide adequate security at the primary elections being conducted now, and that is what we are doing. In the ones that are ongoing, manpower has been deployed across all areas in the command. If you go there, you will notice police presence in all the places where elections are being held.
I’m assuring all members of the public that under my watch the command is fully prepared for the election.
A little over a week ago, IPOB/ESN agitators went on Facebook to order a sit-at-home for Delta State residents despite its not being part of the South East states. And on Wednesday, the threat was carried out with the killing of a driver and burning of vehicles. What is your reaction to this?
The command under my watch mobilised all human and material resources available within my reach to showcase to the world what this command is capable of doing. As a result, my men have been out 24/7 beginning from the day we got this information, particularly on the threat by IPOB/ESN. Our men went out on show of force on Monday. We dominated the whole command, not just Asaba alone, to show them that we were capable of deterring them from whatever sinister move they had in mind. Equally, on Tuesday, we were all out, and even on Wednesday, you will agree with me that my men were all out there.
We never had any unfortunate situation report coming from anywhere. But unfortunately at about 6am on Wednesday, I got an information that somewhere at the outskirts of Asaba on the way to Ugbolu, a small community outside the metropolis, the IPOB blocked the road, using woods and other materials they could find. Most unfortunate was the fact that a truck loaded with cement on its way from Okpella in Edo State coming to Asaba was intercepted at the roadblock. The driver was asked to come down and was questioned on what he was doing on the road in spite of their directive that people should sit at home. He told them that he was not aware of the order. They shot him point blank, killing him. Three vehicles and a Keke NAPEP were also set ablaze. We raced to the scene but unfortunately they had left the spot.
Consequently upon that, we went round the whole of Ugbolu in search of these hoodlums calling themselves IPOB/ESN but it was to no avail.
However, I want to assure the residents of Delta State that this command will leave no stone unturned in ensuring that peace and security are guaranteed. As it is, everywhere within and outside the metropolis, people are going about their lawful business aside the incident that happened. That tells you that the command is able and capable to protect lives and property of citizens in this state, and that we will continue to do.
We are not going to allow any hoodlum in the guise of IPOB/ESN to come here. In the first place, Delta State is not part of South East of Nigeria and as such, the directive of sit-at-home cannot be enforced here. If they want to do that, they should confine and restrict themselves to the South East geo-political zone where they think they can do it and go scot free but I want to warn that whoever wants to dare or test our resolve will certainly see the other part of us here.
It may interest you that these people did not pass through the waters to get to Delta from Anambra. They have a farmland. Most of them committing these atrocities came from a particular state in the South East and had been farming at Ugbolu before the emergence of IPOB/ESN. With the coming of the proscribed group, most of the farmers found themselves in it and started terrorising that area. But for the waters, we have marine police and military contingent. As I speak to you, they are there, patrolling the waterways. At the bridge end, we have the police and the military conducting stop and search. That is not to say one or two of them will find a way to Asaba in spite of this. Despite all these, we have our men who are on the waters and land ensuring that security is guaranteed both ways. And that is why you can see that their evil plan and intention did not work as they thought of. They expected that by now, Deltans should not be on the streets but when you move around, you will see people engaging in their businesses. Schools, shops and businesses are open. I’ve had meetings with royal fathers and proprietors of schools as well as market leaders and I have said that on no account should anyone shut down because of empty threats
We will not relent in providing security to the state’s residents.
Every state command has some crimes that are prevalent. What types of criminal activities are common in your state command and how are you tackling such to bring them to the barest minimum?
Just like you rightly pointed out, the whole country is bedeviled with all kinds of crimes. There is no region, there is no state that doesn’t have its prevalent crime. In Delta, the crimes that are most pronounced are two, and they are cultism and kidnapping.
if you have been following our press releases, if you have been following the way we have been fighting crime in the state, you will agree with me that kidnappers and cultists are being dealt with. I cannot quantify the number of cultists or kidnappers that have been arrested, prosecuted and convicted. And those that are still being tried. If you want to ask which method are being used, one is partnership. It is still the key. The people themselves are being encouraged to give information, and, of course, I assure them that they should always have at the back of their minds that their identities will be treated with utmost confidentiality. This is because most people are afraid of giving information to the police for fear of the criminals coming against them when some policemen would later give information about their identities. But in this state, the reverse is the case, and people have been encouraged here and there to give us information.
Cultism is a menace that has come down to primary schools. In the past it was a crime that was known to be prevalent in tertiary institutions when we were growing up as young boys but today you will agree with me that it has gone deep down even to primary school, so what we do is to partner with members of the public, partner with schools to expose those that are involved both from outside and inside the school. And when they are arrested, we send them to where they belong. That is high court, and from there to prison. Those that are minors are sent to children court where they will be tried and appropriate punishment given to them. That is only what we can do to discourage them.
For kidnappers, they will face the wrath of the law and be treated as criminals that they are. Kidnapping and cultism as crimes in this state have been reduced to barest, tolerable level. Kidnapping has gone down very well in this state. I’m not saying there are no other crimes, there are many other crimes because in society, there is no way you can take away crime, not even Great Britain, not even in the United States. The most important thing is to see how you can reduce crime, so that people can at least go out and do their businesses and also sleep with their two eyes closed. Businesses can only thrive under the atmosphere of peace and tranquility. Once there is no peace, there won’t be business, but in Delta, relatively, there is peace.
Which towns or areas are the flashpoint of criminality in the state?
Yes, we have Ughelli which is notorious for kidnap activities. Barakat, Sapele, Ogwashi-Uku and Warri are also flash points for kidnapping and cultism. Oghara had had one or two cases of kidnapping but the syndicate which hitherto was troubling that area was neutralised and their arms recovered. That was in April. Since then till now as I speak to you, we have not had a single complaint on kidnapping. That tells you that the particular neutralised syndicate had been the one disturbing the peace of that area.
Much as the police are fighting against cultism, it was recently discovered in viral video recordings that some policemen are actively involved in such crime that they are expected to prevent.
The police, as you are aware, is the only organization that I can beat my chest to say we have that disciplinary mechanism of dealing with our own that are involved in crime. And as you have heard what the Inspector General of Police said, anybody involved in any of this crime will not be spared. Any policemen that dips his hand into any crime will not be spared. You and I exist in this society, you are aware of the dynamism of the time. A lot of things have changed over time and so many changes are still going on. Gone are those days when you said children shouldn’t do this or that. But the most important thing is that for every crime committed by a police officer, there is a clearly defined punishment for it and I trust the IGP that we have today, all those ones who came out on social media and identified themselves with one cult group or the other, at the end of the day you will hear about their outcome. I will not predict what will happen but I said you will get to know the outcome because they won’t be spared. In Delta State, we have not been able to identify anyone but if such a police officer is identified, he will not be spared.
What of those who smoke hemp brazenly and continue to extort and unabashedly giving change to those being extorted despite efforts to launder police image?
That is condemnable and I do not support anything that is evil. In the police force, just like any organization, you have good and bad eggs. The only thing you can do to the bad ones is to weed them out. We fish them out and give the appropriate punishment to serve as deterrent to those committing the offence and others that may want to toe the line. The police force is a disciplined organization and for us as a state command, the measures put forward to checkmate this is by setting up teams under X-squad. There is also CP Monitoring Unit in charge of instilling discipline among members of the force, not just the rank and file. We have our way of dealing with even senior police officers when they commit such offence. We issue them query and through that, if found guilty or culpable, the Police Service Commission is there to deal with it. For the rank and file, we try them, reduce their ranks or salary for a month to serve as deterrent. And the money is paid into federal government’s account. It depends on the weight of indiscipline exhibited. Punishment is given in line with offence committed, and we do everything humanly possible to discourage that. In this state, we have two or three officers that have been sanctioned over extortion on the road in the last one year.
The slogan ‘Police is your friend’ is often said, but how friendly are the law enforcement agents to Nigerian citizens?
Very friendly. There is no organization that is as friendly as the police, in spite of our shortcomings. This is because of our proximity to members of the public. There is no way we won’t have frictions once in a while because of our closeness but in spite of that, we are still getting along. When they bring their complaints, we receive them and attend to them. When a man fights his wife, it’s the police he goes to. When criminals attack him, it is the police he goes to. If he has a problem with his brother, it is the police he goes to. If he has a problem with his landlord or tenant, it is the police, so that is why we are your friends and will continue to be.
Bail is said to be free but people complain of still being made to pay before their release and compelled to drop some cash for those at the counter before their belongings kept there are given back.
I’m not aware of such. Here in the state, I’ve been on air and told people severally that anywhere you have such an experience, take time to report it. I’m not a magician or spirit. You wouldn’t know anything happening if it is not reported. When there is no report, we take it as nothing happening. If I receive such a complaint, it cannot be frustrated under my watch. As a command and a Commissioner of Police, I don’t take nonsense from anybody, except I don’t receive such complaints. If I do, there is a commensurate punishment for an action deemed to be inimical to the Force. But when people don’t complain, they are on their own. If you complain, action will be taken, surely.
How are you taking care of police personnel in terms of tools and equipment, accommodation, as well as allowances when on special duties, to boost their morales.
In my command, when you talk about welfare in terms of allowances, since I assumed duty, the policemen under me know that if they go for a special duty anywhere and money is paid, it gets to the lowest in rank. Under the present leadership by the IGP, Alkali Usman Baba, he has never sent policemen out on national assignments without paying them. Anambra had the only election so far and the policemen were paid before going there. In terms of equipment, on arms and ammunition, the police force received some consignments not long ago – tear gas and anti-riot equipment – and we were all given. On uniforms for inspectors and rank and file, in November 2021, the consignment was given and shared. Even as I am speaking to you, a consignment is being awaited. Also, as I’m speaking to you, five vehicles were given to each state in the federation. The present leadership has changed all the former narratives. The IGP we have is very passionate when it comes to the welfare of his personnel. If you enter the force headquarters, from the gate, you will know that there is a new sheriff in town. He is one that takes the welfare of his men very serious. He doesn’t joke about it.
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