By Ahmed Ajikobi
The Kwara state police command in its fight against crime and criminality in the state have declared that it has recorded 15 armed robbery cases in the state from May to October this year.
This was made known on Thursday at the police headquarters by the Kwara state Commissioner of Police, Kayode Egbetokun during a meeting with leadership of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN), Tricycle Owners Association of Nigeria (TOAN), Hotel Owners Association, Okada Riders Association, students’ union leaders, and human rights activists in the state.
According to him, 27 suspects were arrested in connection with crime while 15 AK-47 rifles were recovered during the process adding that six police officers have been sacked for various forms of misconducts within the four months period.
He also said he has approved the dismissal of another police officer on Wednesday for similar professional misconduct.
“The command will not condone indiscipline among its officers. And many police officers had been served various forms of punishment for misconduct.
“The SARS had been disbanded, but the Kwara SARS has been very useful for us to tackle robbery cases. The command recorded 15 armed robbery cases between May and October with arrest of 27 suspects and 15 AK-47 riffles recovered”, he noted.
He noted that the state had not witnessed cases of police extra judicial killing, brutality and harassment, adding that cases of police extortion had reduced drastically.
Egbetokun appealed to stakeholders to talk with their members on the need to maintain existing peace and harmony in the state noting that he was proud of peaceful conduct exhibited so far by the youth in the state during #EndSARS protest.
“Please, talk with your men not to copy what’s happening elsewhere in the country, particularly as it concerns current state of insecurity in many parts of the country. You can see that it is no longer #EndSARS protest again with the level of destruction and looting going on in some places in the country.
“It looks like a new agenda by the criminal elements. They looted armoury to get gun in order to commit atrocities after this time. We should discourage that and be careful with the kind of information we access on social media. Fake reports that can cause disunity and chaos are being circulated. We have to be careful”, he said.
Some of the stakeholders who responded to the speech of the police commissioner at the meeting called for open prosecution of erring officers, and public announcement on dismissed ones.
Others also advised that desk officer for youth and students be established in the police command for cordial relationship as well as youth/police relations committee and regular stakeholders meeting.
