2019: Be combat ready, police tell personnel

THE Police  yesterday urged officers and men to be alive to their responsibilities as campaigns for 2019 elections kicked off.

They also urged the personnel to be combat-ready in their duty posts.

Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG), Zone 8 Adekunle Oladunjoye said this yesterday in Ilorin while on a familiarisation tour of the Kwara State Command.

Zone 8 comprises Kogi, Kwara and Ekiti states.

Oladunjoye added: “Once you are on duty as a policeman, be combat-ready as if you are in warfront. Don’t take things for granted.

“Crime is generally on the increase. We are trying to tame it. Though, the police is overstretched, but we are on top of the game.”

He called for optimal utilisation of manpower and material resources among officers and men  in the police command,.

Oladunjoye said shortfall of personnel is affecting other state commands.

The AIG also urged police personnel to uphold the rule of law in their dealings as well as be tactful and helpful to  the public.

According to him, no police personnel can achieve anything without cooperation of the public.

Police Commissioner Bolaji Fafowora lamented the shortfall of officers and men in the command, saying that only 46 of 116 traffic wardens are left to cover the command.

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The CP said the shortage of manpower had made it increasingly difficult to meet human resource needs of the command in terms of deployment, patrol and other critical assignments.

The police boss, who said 48 of the 116 traffic wardens had already gone on retirement between January and June 2018, added that 22 of them had also gone on retirement between September and now.

He said the development was not unconnected to movement of officers and men out of the command in form of transfer without any corresponding replacement, especially to special units like the border patrol, police mobile force, CTU and the SPU.

“In the same manner, the command is equally facing serious depletion of its personnel in the 15 Mobile Police Force squadron attached to the command through movement of about five units out of the eight units in the squadron, on special assignments outside the state.