The Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Usman Baba Alkali, has urged officers and men of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) to embark on intelligence gathering in order to address the problem of kidnapping in Nigeria.
Alkali gave the charge on Wednesday at an interactive session with the officers during his official visit to the Police Command in Ibadan, Oyo State.
According to him, the problem of kidnapping in Nigeria cannot be solved unless officers and men of the force embark on intelligence gathering.
He said nothing could be achieved without better intelligence gathering, adding that it was better to chase and look for kidnappers before they embarked on kidnapping.
“My point of reference in my agenda of policing is to employ intelligence mechanism,” Baba said.
He called on officers to sustain investigations whenever a kidnapped victim was rescued, adding through that better information could be obtained from the rescued victim, and would lead to arrest of the kidnappers.
Alkali also urged his personnel to regard other security agencies as partners in progress toward ensuring protection of lives and property of the citizenry.
He said synergy and cooperation with other security agencies would help in curbing the activities of men of the underworld, since everyone that has a role to play in crime fighting needed to be supported.
“They will support you, you will support them; if we are working in synergy, we will be able to stamp out crimes, rather than working across purposes,” the police chief said.
Earlier, the Commissioner of Police in Oyo State, Ngozi Onadeko, said police has taken back their front seat in internal security after the ENDSARS protest, which according to her, had dampened the officers’ morale.
Onadeko said the command was able to reduce crime and criminality to the barest minimum in order to create a conducive environment for development in the state.
She called on the IGP to assist the command in the areas of manpower, arms and ammunition, anti-riot equipment, among others.
The commissioner commended the police chief, Governor Seyi Makinde and other stakeholders for their supports and cooperation.
Traditional rulers, religious leaders and members of Police Community Relations Committee (PCRC) were in attendance at the interactive session.
