We are giving Kaduna-Abuja highway more security presence because… —AIG Taiwo Lakanu

The Assistant Inspector General (AIG) of Police, Zone 7, Zonal Command of the Nigeria Police comprising of Niger and Kaduna states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Commands, Mr Taiwo Lakanu, recently paid a one-day official working visit to the Niger State Police Command where he talked on the general security situation in the state and its environs and the need to brace up to meet the general insecurity challenges in the North Central geo-political zone, among other issues. ADELOWO OLADIPO, who was there, brings excerpts of the interactive session with the AIG on the sidelines of his visit.

The situation on the Kaduna-Abuja highway has been very worrisome for motorists and commuters plying that route for quite some time now. What is the Police High Command doing to bring sanity to the troubled spots on that road?

The security architecture of that road is receiving a very serious attention and I think you are aware that the Inspector General of Police has deployed about 300 vehicles to that area and now, we have men on ground; more mobile police men; more regular policemen and they are trying their possible best to reduce the insecurity situation that has been happening there to the barest minimum. Indeed, we are trying as far as policing is concerned in that area. So many arrests have been made and with dangerous weapons recovered.

We are assuring our civilian populace in the country that we are capable of taking care of the lives and properties of the people when it comes to the issue of security. But we also want the various communities to assist us. I have said it and I will keep on repeating it that we cannot do it all alone. We need the assistance of the members of the public. All these bad people live with them; they know them. Let the members of the public come out confidentially and give us information so that we can know the criminal elements in our midst. You see, we talked of community policing, there should be symbiotic relationship between the police and the public. It is a synergy between the police and members of the public. Without the required synergy, there cannot be adequate security of lives and properties of the citizenry. So, we need the supports of the members of the public to come out boldly and see how they can be of help to the police.

 

Recently there was a jail break in the Minna Medium Security Prisons, leading to the killing of a prison warder and an unidentified commercial motorcyclist by some hoodlums who came to set free some prison inmates. What is the outcome of the manhunt for the inmates who were involved in the jail break? 

Well, I am very happy to inform you that we had fruitful discussions with the Inspector General of Police over the matter. He used his wealth of experience to advise us on what to do and I came in here and we applied one of the decisions. Now, I am happy to inform you that we have made a major breakthrough and we have arrested almost all of them across the country and they have given us all the information that would enable us to arrest all the other members of their gang who are still at large. We are still working assiduously to make sure that there is no repetition of that unfortunate incident at the Medium Security Prison, here in Minna. If you go there now, we have infused the prisons with a lot of policemen and we have deployed intelligence assets. We are still hoping to do more.

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Last December, there were robbery attacks in some branches of some old generation banks in Lapai Town, including the invasion of the Lapai Divisional Police Station, leading to the killing of some people and a policeman by the armed bandits. Have the police been able to get to the roots of the matter just like it did earlier in the year at Offa, Kwara State where almost all the suspected armed robbers who attacked banks and killed many people were later apprehended?

Yes, we know we also made a breakthrough there just like what happened in Offa where we had literally tracked almost everyone involved in the bank robberies that took place there. The same thing is happening in the case of the Lapai bank robbery incidents, here in Niger State. We have arrested some of the suspected armed robbers and they are undergoing interrogation. But you know, for security reasons, sometimes if we made arrests and especially if some of the armed bandits involved in the criminal activities are still out there, we don’t disclose our strategies. However, we are working assiduously to ensure that everybody involved in those robbery incidents on the banks at the Lapai area of Niger State is picked up by the police.

 

What is the purpose of your visit to the Niger State Police Command?

Well, I am in the state Police Command on the instruction of the Inspector General of Police Alhaji Ibrahim Kpotun Idris, to lecture officers and men of the state police command on the ideals of this democratic process and also to lecture them on community policing and other aspects of police job. I am really happy with the reactions of our personnel to the lecture and it shows that our officers and men can work if they are well motivated. So, I am extremely happy on the reactions I have seen and heard.

 

Can we know what informed the decision of the Police High Command to establish more police divisions in the state? 

Part of the reasons is that during my courtesy call on the acting governor of the state, he expressed concerns on the lack of adequate police divisions in some areas of the state and in my reaction to his request, I have told the state Commissioner of Police to establish some divisions in some areas of the state where there has been no adequate presence of police. However, we will later seek approval from the Inspector General of Police. The establishment of the divisions is like you have provisional police stations in parts of the state because of the unfortunate things that have been happening in the state. And by establishing the divisions, it will help us to curb some of the heinous crimes in the state by its presence. So, I have given the Commissioner of Police in Niger State my express permission to set up the divisional police stations where they are necessary in the state.

 

Niger State has been adjudged as one of the most peaceful states in the North Central geo-political zone. What is the Police High Command doing to ensure that the command maintains the tempo of policing in the state?

Well, I aligned myself with your position and, like I said earlier, the Commissioner of Police, Mr Dibal Paul Yakadi, has been doing his best to perform extremely well here. In fact, he is one of the best commissioners of police we have in the country at the moment because he is hard working and also very experienced. He is also a strategic thinker and, of course, we would do everything within our means to assist him. He has told us about his problems and will discuss these problems with the management team when I get back to Abuja. I would also see to how we can proffer solutions to some of his problems. Mr Yakadi is a very intelligent officer.