By Bala Dauda, Damaturu
The Deputy Inspector-General of Police in-charge of Force Intelligent Department (FID), Mr Zachariah Fera, has called on Nigerians to recognise the sacrifices of the police to keep Nigeria safe.
Fera stated this in Damaturu on Tuesday while addressing officers and men of the police Command in Yobe.
He noted that many police personnel suffered life threatening injuries or even died in defence of their father land.
The DIG said he was touring the North East on the directive of the Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Disu, to assess the operational readiness of the police and their interactions with the general public.
“ We want to ensure that the Command is policing Yobe with dignity,” Fera said.
He said intelligence-led policing was invoked by the Disu-led administration to gather more information to help in crime management in the country.
“ We will take the battle to the criminals. We will no longer be reactive; we will be proactive,” the DIG said.
Fera assured the personnel that the headquarters was aware of their challenges and would do everything possible to ameliorate them.
He solicited for maximum cooperation from the state government and other critical stakeholders to tackle kidnapping and other emerging crimes.
In his remarks, the state Police Commissioner, Usman Jibrin, said the command was doing its best to maintain peace and security in the state.
He, however, requested for more equipment and manpower, saying that some divisions and area commands were manned by only 15 police personnel, which was grossly inadequate.
“ In Geidam, only 15 personnel and Geidam is a frontline local government. Without manpower nothing can be done,” Jibrin said.
Our correspondent reports that the DIG and his team are billed to have an interactive session with critical stakeholders in the state on Wednesday.