Recruitment of locals to start soon, says IGP ... To seek Oyetola's inputs in Osun selection exercise

The Inspector General of the Nigeria Police, Mr. Muhammed Abubakar Adamu has said the inputs of Osun State Governor, Adegboyega Oyetola would be required in the recruitment of locals for community Policing to start anytime soon.

The police boss disclosed this during a courtesy visit to Governor Oyetola in his office on Tuesday.

He told the Governor to expect another visit any time soon to begin the process of recruiting the local youths in the state for community policing, adding that the Governor’s involvement would be needed for the purpose of selecting the best in the state for the job.

The IGP had been on tour of South West geopolitical zone to further strengthen the ongoing campaign and efforts to stem the tide of insecurity in the region.

He said he had visited Osogbo to share with his men the resolutions of the just concluded South West geopolitical zone security summit held in Ibadan on Monday as part of efforts at enhancing security in the South West and other states in the country.

He appreciated the Governor for his support and commitment to the battle against the challenge of insecurity.

He said: "I am happy to pay this courtesy visit to your Excellency. We are here after the summit of yesterday, to share the resolutions of the summit with our men.

"We will pay another visit any time soon to involve Your Excellency in the selection and recruitment of people of this state for community policing.

"We appreciate your efforts in supporting the agents and we wish to appeal to your Excellency to do more so that the state can continue to maintain its status as the state with the lowest crime rate in the country.

"We see you as part of us and appreciate you for always being in touch with the Force Headquarters towards securing the people of the state."

Governor Gboyega Oyetola, in his response, thanked the police boss for the plan to heed his call for recruitment of local people to their communities.

He advocated for more police area commands, and more policemen in the state for better security coverage across all nooks and crannies of the state.

He commended the Inspector General of Police for being dedicated and proactive on matters of security in the country, adding that the Geopolitical Zone Security Summit held in Ibadan was a good development in the collective fight again insecurity in the region.

The Governor asked the Inspector General of Police to beef up plan to checkmate illegal mining activities in the state, adding that the activities had allowed incursion of armed bandits from neighboring countries to the state to involve in kidnapping, armed robbery, raping among others as stopping them would save the people and better secure the state.

The Governor said his government would continue to support the force with necessary equipment in addition to the 25 Armour Police Carriers and Helipad to be ready soon for surveillance of the forests other odd spots across the state.

The Governor said: "I feel highly honoured to welcome the Inspector General of Police to my state. I was supposed to be in Abuja, but on learning that he would be coming, I had to stay back to receive you and your men.

"The Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar Adamu is a wonderful man and highly responsible as he is committed to ensuring that there is peace across the country. He is always thinking about how to have safe states across the country.

"The Geopolitical Zone Security Summit held in Ibadan for the South West states in the region is a good initiative from him. I attended the summit and I enjoyed it. Also your stance on Community Policing is a good development, because the local people are the most familiar with their terrain. 

"In terms of manpower, we need more policemen in Osun. We also need more police area commands to cover all parts of our state, though I learnt there is Mobile Police (MOPOL) Squadron Command in Ilesa. We want it to be reactivated to have more officers .

‘I equally commend you for your collaboration with other security agencies and not the conventional police. Integrating them is a good development as they are accustomed with their terrains. The joint force of security to tackle crimes and illegal miners disturbing the state is also commendable.

"I must commend your effort to assist us on security on all parts of the state. You are never tired of us, and we are ready to collaborate with the security agencies, particularly the police. We will put in our best to support the police towards securing the state.

"Your visit to the South West states is a good one, because it will give you the opportunity to see the states as well as know the peculiarity of each of the states."

The IGP Mohammed Abubakar was accompanied by the the Commissioner of Police Osun State, Abiodun Ige, Assistant Inspector General Zone II, AIG Leye Olusola Oyebade, Deputy Inspector General of Police on Logistics and Supply, DIG Frederick Lakanun, Deputy Inspector General of Police on Operations, DIG Almajid Alli, and a friend of the IGP Alhaji Abubakar Musa, as well as other men of the force.