We are working hard to prevent criminals from overruning Bauchi —Commissioner of Police, Alabi

Bauchi State Commissioner of Police, Mr Abiodun Sylvester Alabi, in this interview by ISHOLA MICHAEL, speaks on the security situation in the state and what his command has done to reduce rape and other gender-based crimes in the state.

How would describe the security situation in Bauchi State with you at the helm of the state police command?

Bauchi State is very peaceful. Before I came in, I was aware that there were lots of challenges faced by our officers and men, particularly as regards the ‘Sara Suka’ criminals’ menace. They are miscreants that harassed innocent, law abiding citizens. Crime statistics showed that the most worrisome crime being perpetrated in Bauchi State was rape.

I sat down with my officers and men and we came up with strategies on how to combat this ‘Sara-Suka’ menace and I can assure you that we have really dealt with the situation. Their activities have been checkmated and they are no more a threat to the society. Recent events attest to that. The Sallah and durbar celebrations were done in a peaceful atmosphere throughout the state. For the crime of rape that was worrisome when I came on board, there are some problems that need to be tackled by breaking with tradition. I charged my men to start sensitisation programmes in their various formations. I asked them to meet with parents and impress on them the need to keep a close watch on their children; that negligence on their part could make their children become rapists. We then partnered with some NGOs and organised seminars and sensitisation programmes and these have really helped us tremendously in addressing the crime of rape. Cases of rape have really reduced in Bauchi State. You can verify this from our crime statistics. For about three weeks now, we have not recorded more than three cases of rape. It used to be a daily occurrence. We are working very hard to fight that particular crime in Bauchi State.

Do you consider kidnapping as a major crime in Bauchi State?

I have to be very frank about this: kidnapping is a great security challenge throughout the country and Bauchi State is not an exception. But the rate of kidnapping here is very low. It is not as it is in other parts of the country. Since I came on board, we have recorded about eight cases of kidnapping. Four cases were recorded in Toro Local Government Area, three in Alkaleri and one in Dass. But my joy is that the perpetrators have been arrested. Some of them have been charged to court while others are still in our custody. I can assure you that we are being proactive in tackling crime in Bauchi State and we will stop at nothing to make sure that criminals are arrested and made to pay for their crimes. My officers and men are committed to their duties and as a result of that, we have been arresting criminals and bringing them to justice. All the people involved in the kidnap cases I mentioned earlier have been arrested.

The police and even the government have identified the forests in some parts of the state as hideouts for criminals, what efforts are you making to rid the places of the criminal elements?

That is where interagency collaboration comes in. We have been partnering with other security agencies like the military and the civil defence. One thing that gladdens my heart is that the Bauchi people are passionate about security. We have the hunters association, we have the vigilantes’ association, we have the Danga security and we have the peace and security committee. All these security outfits are working closely with the police and other security agencies to ensure that we rid the society of all forms of crimes and criminalities. The hunters and the vigilantes have been particularly helpful because they familiar with the terrains; they know the hideouts of these criminals inside the forests. We go with them and the military to smoke these criminals out of the forest areas. As of now, we have relative peace in those areas.

Would you say your command has the capacity to combat crimes in the state?

Of course, we don’t have enough manpower to police all of Bauchi State. It is a national issue. We don’t have adequate manpower but that challenge is being mitigated with intensive patrols to ensure that we don’t allow any space to be porous. We try to cover all areas with constant patrols.

During a recent security meeting, it was said that Bauchi State was gradually becoming a host to bandits because of reported influx of the criminals into four certain local government areas of the state. Some of the criminals were also said to be responsible for a recent vandalism of a telecommunications installation in the state.

That is not wholly correct. Bauchi State is not becoming a host to bandits. What you just said about vandalism is true. Five people were arrested. They are common criminals, not bandits. They were arrested and handed over to the civil defence for proper investigation and prosecution. You will recall that there was some sort of misrepresentation of facts by some newsmen about what the SSG said when he addressed the media at the Government House. There was never a time the SSG said four local government areas had been taken over by bandits or by Boko Haram. The SSG never said that. I was there. What he said was that we were trying to put in place adequate security measures to allay the fears of Bauchi residents about the influx of bandits from Geidam and Kanama in Yobe State because of the Boko Haram attacks that happened in those two towns. And it is true that we had an influx of people from Yobe State into Gamawa, Zaki, Darazo and Dambam. Those areas are bordering Yobe State. We don’t need to wait until things happen; we have to be proactive. The aim of the security meeting was for us to be very proactive and to put in place adequate security measures to ensure that criminals don’t take advantage of the influx of people from those areas to turn the place to a safe haven for criminals. We had a very successful operation there and I can assure you that we are having a good situation report from those four council areas. There is no problem in these places.

Many Nigerians have lost confidence in the police because of brutality, extortion and other inappropriate activities. What are you doing in your capacity as the Commissioner of Police to ensure that people’s confidence is restored in your command?

What I am doing in that respect is to make sure that our policy of community policing is practised to the letter. Members of the public have been galvanised to get involved in policing their environments and other stakeholders are involved. With the constant engagement and partnership with members of the public, the confidence is being built. Holding constant meetings with members of the public, discussing the challenges they are facing, allaying their fears and getting them involved in keeping the society safe are part of the confidence- building process and that is happening in Bauchi State. The people have confidence in us now and they are ready to police their environments.

You have spent about five months as the Bauchi State CP, what is your assessment of the state, security-wise?

Bauchi is one of the most peaceful states in the country. The records attest to this. You can check with the Force Headquarters. The governor, during some public events, has openly expressed satisfaction with the security agencies.  He said that as far as he was concerned, the security agencies in Bauchi State were doing their best and they were performing wonderfully and that Bauchi people and his government appreciated our efforts. That attests to the fact that Bauchi State is okay and we will continue to do more. We will not rest on our oars, we will continue to make sure that Bauchi people go about their lawful businesses without any harassment or apprehension.

What are the challenges facing the command?

Logistics is a challenge to us. Also, we have just mentioned that are trying to restore people’s confidence in the police and I think we are doing well in that aspect. But we are still having problems with logistics because. You will remember that recently, the governor of Bauchi State handed over some vehicles to security agencies and that has enhanced our capacity but it is still not enough. We will keep using what we have to perform our duties but we still need more.

Manpower is another problem which you are aware of. If the Federal Government will allow us to recruit more personnel, it will help. Beyond that, I want to place it on record that policing is not only intelligence-driven, it is also technologically driven, so the Federal Government should try and make some technological aspects of policing evolve so that it will make our work easier. I expected that by now, we should be able to monitor what is going on across Bauchi State from our office. We should depart from this analog way of doing police work. Let me be frank with you, communication is very important in policing but I can tell you that our communication system does not go beyond Bauchi and its environs. I cannot communicate effectively with someone who is in Darazo, Alkaleri or Toro. We have not got there yet. We need to go beyond what we are doing now and make the work easier for us. A lot of people believe that police personnel are doing magic in making sure that the environment is peaceful because they don’t really have the wherewithal but still, they are performing. So, if all necessary things are put in place, we will do more and we will deliver quality service to the people.

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