By Simeon OSAJIE
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Ine and Company Properties Limited, Hon. Comrade Sylvester Iziegbe Inegbenehi on Friday lauded Edo State Commissioner of Police, CP Monday Agbonika commendation on the state government under the leadership of Senator Monday Okpebholo in talking security predicament in the state.
The commendation was noted by Comrade Inegbenehi during live programme of the Edo Broadcasting Service (EBS) featuring CP Agbonika on live programme.
Inegbenehi who also used the occasion to thank Edo State government under the watch of Senator Monday Okpebholo for the tremendous support it’s rendered to the state police command in terms of security in the state, applauded the efforts of the state government as much as he applauded the effort of the commissioner of police in the state.
Responding to question on EBS live programme, the state Commissioner of Police, CP Monday Agbonika who lauded Senator Monday Okpebholo-led government in the tackling insecurity in the state said that it is the right of a suspect not to be detained beyond 48 hours, but you must also understand that a suspect can be detained in the police station beyond 48 hours brcause some circumstances can make it possible.
According to Agbonika, “It is possible that a matter was charge to court and the court decided to remand that particular suspect to the police station. In which case it will appear as if the suspect is staying beyond 48 hours while the suspect is actually staying on the order of the court after a point. So there are also situations where the investigator discovers that he needs more time for his case.
“There’s a provision in the administration of criminal justice law of which permits, which allows police force to go to court and ask for more time. And if that time is granted by a court of law or competent jurisdiction, then the suspect can be kept beyond that time. But after the period that is stated by the order permitting that extension, the suspect must be taken back to the court.”
On the issue where a lawyer come to the police station to harass police, the Edo CP said that when the police are professional, when the police are doing what they are supposed to do, and when the police know their job and they know the law, it is very easy to work with lawyers.
“As a matter of fact, I like handling cases when lawyers are in the cases because in such situations, you will not have too much trouble trying to explain to parties the reason why you have to take actions that you need to take because the lawyer is there to advise,” he added.
While responding to question that some persons who parade themselves as police with unbranded vehicle, CP Agbonika use the opportunity to tell members of the public that police is taking some steps they could take to ensure that both the police and members of the public check this together.
“You see, as a matter of fact, we have some police officers presently, as I speak, who are in detention because they have been found wanting for carrying out some unlawful, unprofessional acts like you mentioned.
“But, you see, we have come up with a lot of publications even on the air and maybe I can share that here now on how we can work together to make, to ensure that this does not go on. One, we say that if you notice, because police officers have been directed that on no occasion should they go out for operations without their name tags, you’ll discover that some police officers wear name tags that can be peeled off. That is wrong.
“We have now decreed that every police officer must have his name tag sewn to his chest, like it is done to my own chest, so that they will not be able to commit offenses undetected. And if they have their name tags, you can pick up the names and we can detect them easily. A lot of times you get complaints like you just made and the complaints are generalized.
“They will say they saw a police officer in a vehicle, the vehicle is not tagged, they don’t know which station the policemen are from. It is a bit difficult for us to follow up on such complaints. So, we want to enjoin the members of the public to take further, to make further efforts to try to identify police officers they come in contact with.
“And some of the things to look out for is, like you said, the vehicles are not marked. We have also decreed, secondly, just to check this practice, that every police officer that is going out, all the tactical teams that are going out, must have stickers. I personally ensure that the stickers were printed and I inspected the stickers.”
Going further, CP Abonika added, “So, we have met with nine different groups and each of these groups have been encouraged to form their team. They have selected leaders and these leaders will form the crux of the community safety partnership. And when the partnership is launched, eventually we will pick a leader for the partnership, of course, who will be a member of the community selected by those leaders of the different groups.
“And we will decide on the, we will do the crime, the security audits to decide on what problems we are going to face. Because normally we have many problems to tackle, but we prioritize to pick the ones that we decide with the police to be of importance. And there’s another initiative, the informal policing system initiative, the informal policing sector initiative.
That initiative, we found very important because of the kidnappings that are taking place, not those ones on the expressways, because we don’t have enough manpower to police all the farms in those states and to farm all those bushes and forests. Because of that, we felt we can come up with an initiative whereby the youths of a state, instead of using their energies to be fighting against each other in terms of court rivalries or fighting for post and all this, we can organize the youths to work together to fight against kidnapping. In that case, I mean, is the day free after the profiling?
In conclusion the State commissioner of police, CP Monday Agbonika urged the good people of the State to join hands with Governor Monday Okpebholo in his fight against cultism, kidnapping and other criminal activities in the state, noting that Governor Okpebholo want a free Edo where business owners would have the mind to invest in the development of the State.