Yuletide: Anambra Residents Call For Security As Police Intensify Surveillance

Residents of Anambra State have called on security operatives in the state to beam their searchlights on rural areas as the Christmas and New Year celebrations approach.

Speaking with THE WHISTLER at Awkuzu, a community leader, Chido Okonkwo, said, “This became necessary because of the incessant cases of vices in our communities. We encounter rape, kidnappings, and armed robbery. I want security agencies to collaborate with our vigilantes to fish these criminals out.”

A resident of Awka told our correspondent that, “The rate of crimes is on the increase because many people want to live ‘big’ this Christmas. I advise against that because God’s time is the best. Covid-19 and #EndSARS affected the economy, and I want everybody to live according to their levels this time around. While police make efforts in the cities and major highways to curb crimes, we need their presence in rural areas. There are black spots everywhere. So let them find a way of patrolling there. All security agencies should join hands, and the state government should provide them with the enabling environment.”

Meanwhile, the Anambra State police commissioner, CP John B. Abang, Friday, directed all area commanders, DPOs, PMF and other striking units in the state to intensify raids on black spots and criminal hideouts to ensure crime-free yuletide. Abang, in a statement by the state PPRO, SP Haruna Mohammed, urged the operatives to ‘sustain the ongoing stop-and-search/tactical operation duties and night patrols to deny miscreants and criminal elements the opportunity to operate within the state’.

The CP, in the statement, also directed the Department of Operations to embark on statewide patrols to observe levels of compliance to his directives, as well as strategies emplaced by area commanders, DPOs and unit heads in their respective jurisdictions, adding that all officers in the command were also placed on red alert at their respective duty posts.

The commissioner also warned police personnel, including those attached to VIPs visiting the state during the yuletide period, to adhere strictly to the rules governing the use of firearms, noting that any officer found violating such order would be dealt with in accordance with the laid-down procedure. He also called on the residents of the state to provide useful information to the operatives by reporting to the nearest police stations or calling the hotline 07039194332 for prompt responses.