By Izunna Okafor, Awka
The Anambra State Commissioner of Police, CP Aderemi Adeoye, has expressed heartfelt appreciation to the government of Anambra State and, specifically, the Awka South Local Government for the historic honour done to him by naming a street after him in the State.
It would be recalled that the Awka South Local Government, over the week, approved and declared the naming of a street after CP Adeoye, known as the ‘CP Adeoye Close’ at the choicest area in Amawbia Town, which is the Local Government’s seat of power and community that plays host to many other federal/state government structures and institutions, including the Governor’s Lodge, the State’s Police Command Headquarters, among others key institutions.
The honour to the CP, which is the first of its kind in the history of the State and the State’s Police Command, has not come without accolades from the residents of the State, who described same as well-deserved and befitting, given the numerous feats recorded by the State’s Police Command under CP Adeoye who is barely 9 months in office as the State’s Police Chief, having assumed office on July 10, 2023.
When contacted by this reporter, Izunna Okafor, for his reaction on the development, CP Adeoye, who commended the government, said he felt highly elated and motivated by the honour, which he also attributed to the tireless efforts of the gallant security officers in the State under his watch, in securing lives and properties of Ndị Anambra.
“Sincerely, I am highly motivated that the government recognizes and finds our modest efforts worthy of appreciation. And I am thankful to Mr. Governor, Prof. Charles Chukwuma Soludo, for his magnanimity and large heart, and also to the Chairman of the Awka South Local Government Area (Hon. ThankGod Anagor) for this kind gesture.
“Indeed, I really appreciate this; and it will remain indelible in my memory as long as I live,” he said
Fielding questions from this reporter on the recent security happenings in the State, the Police Commissioner recounted some of the recent achievements of the Command, especially in areas of rescues of kidnap victims, raiding of insurgents’/gunmen camps and their dislodgement, arrest of criminal elements, and recoveries of snatched vehicles, arms and ammunitions and other incriminating items from the hoodlums.
The CP, however, regretted that amidst this progress that has restored normalcy in the State, some influential persons and enemies of progress are working tirelessly to sabotage the efforts of the security operatives in securing the State, which, he said, resulted to the few security breaches the occured in the State in recent time, which are the attacks on police stations and the cult-related killings that recently surged in Awka.
“When those things that have happened over a period of time begin to happen again, the question people should ask is Why?
“Could you imagine that the cultists we arrested, charged to court, and got remanded in prison custody that some powerful locals are going to the judiciary to lobby to get them released? And some have been released. And they are the ones unleashing this mayhem again! That is number one.
“Two, you must have heard of the AK-47 we recently recovered from a suspect in Awada. What the suspect told us was that they procured it for him to engage in a showdown with a rival cult group. Now, if that AK-47 was not recovered or had joined the recent cult-related clash, could you imagine what the casualty level would have been?” he wondered.
The Police Commissioner also revealed that three Beretta pistols were also recently recovered from cultists in Ogidi and Ekwulobia within a space of few hours, which, he said, would have also aggravated the cult-related clash if the police had not recovered them.
On the recent gunmen attack on Police Station in the State, the CP said the security operatives went after the hoodlums immediately and have continued to take the battle to them in their camps, which has resulted to the raiding and destruction of many of the insurgents’ hideouts in different parts of the State, including inside forests at Achalla, Ogbunka Aguluezechukwu, and Ogboji communities.
While noting that just one Improvised Explosive Device (IED) can be used to burn down an entire police station, CP Adeoye said the State’s Joint Security Force recovered six IEDs at the Ogbunka insurgents’ camp alone few days ago, also stressing that attacks on police stations in the state would have aggravated, if not for their efforts in battling, defeating and incapacitating the hoodlums. He also revealed that three of the insurgents were killed during the Ogbunka raid, the bodies of whom were later discovered in the same forest few hours after they escaped with bullet wounds during the exchange of gunfire with the police.
“We are not relenting at all and we will never. We are sustaining the battle and the manhunt, and we taking the battle to them. They are on the run,” he said.
He also wondered what people aim to achieve by sabotaging security efforts and sponsoring crimes in society, but, however, reassured that the police would not relent in battling and taking the fight to the criminal elements in the State.
“We are already going after the cultists; and if we find that anybody is subverting justice, or is subverting due process, to get the cultists off the hook, they will face the music, notwithstanding whether the person is in the judiciary or civil populace,” he said.
The Police Commissioner, who also graced the April Congress of the Dr. Odogwu Emeka-led Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ (Anambra State Council) in Awka on Thursday, also recounted other various proactive policing strategies and initiatives newly introduced to further strengthen the security of the State.
Represented at the Congress by the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of the Criminal Investigation Department, DCP Akin Fakorede; the CP further reassured Ndị Anambra of the Command’s commitment to sustained security of lives and properties in the State, while also assuring of sustained synergy and good-working relationship between the Command and the media towards building the safest Anambra State.
