The Inspector General of Police (IGP), Usman Alkali Baba, says the Police Force was deploying technology in virtually all areas of its operations, in tackling new waves of crimes in the country.
The IGP said this on Wednesday while addressing officers and men of Akwa Ibom Command at its headquarters in Uyo, before proceeding to Onna Local Government to inaugurate the Special Protection Unit base.
He charged officers and men to redouble their efforts in crime prevention, stressing that the changing nature of criminality had brought about the introduction of technology in fighting crimes.
He said the Marine unit had been reactivated, crime section digitalised, drones acquired, while the Technical Intelligence Unit was fully functional to cope with new trends in crimes and criminalities.
He said the police must work with time and modern technology to contain the ever dynamic crime wave.
“Crime and criminality is a dynamic thing; it is not something that is static. It moves with time, it moves with modernisation, it moves with technology.
“Nobody has ever told us that human beings can be stolen, now we see human beings being stolen and taken away and they’re asking you to bring money.
“That is new crime which is called kidnapping. We know of armed robbery and now we started hearing of banditry.
“So, we must work with modernity, and therefore one of our cardinal principles in the job now is to train and retrain ourselves.
“So, training is the cardinal point of our administration. We just started training our 10,000 recruits and we have been able to change the curriculum to reflect modernism.
“Since we came, we have gotten a lot, we have just been given 200 brand new pick up vehicles that are very strong by the Police Trust Fund.
“We have made our Airwings very effective, we are proud of putting six helicopters in the air at one time.
“Our Marine segment has been reactivated, our Technical Intelligence Unit is working. We have acquired drones, we have digitalised our crime section. We have involved a lot of technology in our work,” Baba said.
The IGP urged police officers to constantly educate themselves by reading and listening to news on television in order to acquaint themselves with latest happenings in the society.
He noted that before the launch of Operation Restore Peace to the South East, the secessionists had demoralised the workforce with unprovoked attacks and killings.
In his remarks, the Akwa Ibom Commissioner of Police, Andrew Amiengheme, commended the Inspector General for his result-oriented policies which are in line with global best practice.
Amiengheme lamented that there had been unprovoked attacks since he assumed office as the 30th commissioner of Police.
He commended the collaboration between the Nigeria Police and the support of the state government in crime fighting and prevention in the state.
