Imo State Command of the Nigeria Police Force has explained why its personnel carried out an indiscriminate arrest in the state.
Speaking during a visit by the Orlu branch of the Nigerian Bar Association at his office on Wednesday at the force headquarters in Owerri, the state Commissioner of Police, Abutu Yaro, said the emergency situation in the state led to the incessant arrests by the security operatives.
Commending the NBA for partnering with the command in the fight against insecurity in the state, the CP said that the Easter Monday jailbreak at Owerri Correctional Centre had worsened insecurity in the state.
The CP said, “People have raised concern about the incessant arrests in the state, but what people do not know is that incessant crimes lead to incessant arrests. In the last few months, Imo has been tagged an emergency or red flag state but we must work hard to restore peace and confidence in the state.
” As professionals, we must work together to improve our criminal justice system. We are doing the mop-up; we have a law that empowers us to do that. The situation in the state requires collaborative efforts from everybody to end it. The businesses here are suffering. Let us embark on practical engagement with the police on the need to restore sanity in the state.
“We are not unaware that political enterprise is part of the crisis situation in Imo State. The Insecurity in Imo State has a political undertone. In the last 48 hours, the house of the state Commissioner of Information was destroyed. Someone somewhere told them to do that simply because he( Commissioner) is serving Imo State Government.”
On his part, the Orlu NBA branch Chairman, Chinedu Agbodike, urged the police to start seeing them as partners in progress, not as enemies. The NBA Chairman asked the CP to improve on the security in Orlu, adding that the quest to restoring security in the state was a collective one.
Meanwhile, a former Presidential candidate, Kingsley Moghalu has said that Nigeria’s state of insecurity is not a sufficient reason to stop the 2023 general elections from holding.
Speaking at a press conference in Abuja on Monday, Moghalu said he supported President Muhammadu Buhari’s insistence to hold the 2023 regardless of the troubling coordinated attacks on INEC facilities and other parts of the nation.
