by crossriverwatch admin
The Security Adviser to Governor Liyel Imoke of Cross River State Mr. Rekpene Bassey has said that the security of Cross Riverians is the foundation of the future hope of liberty, backbone of the collective commomwealth and prosperity of the State in decades to come.
Bassey stated this in Calabar at the commissioning of 25 special anti-crime operations vehicles donated by the state government to the Nigeria Police Force during the week.
He said that the Governor Liyel Imoke’s administration placed great premium on security and that is why, despite the financial constraints and challenges the state is facing, the government still thought is necessary to procure additional security infrastructure for the police to ensure the citizens are adequately secured.
He said, “Needless to say the state government places premium priority on the fact that mobility is key to quickly and effectively addressing new and evolving threats to our security challenges with particular regard to crime prevention and law enforcement.”
The SSA emphasized the need for effective motorized patrols as an integral component of our law enforcement capabilities and said “the federal government whose responsibility it is to fund the NPF would do well to take up this challenge as an emergency to tackle the problem of providing not only vehicles, but state of the art infrastructure for the police in order for them to be more effective, being the first responders to crime situations.”
Also speaking, the acting Governor Mr. Efiok Cobham decried the gap from the federal government in supporting security agencies towards the protection of life and property in the country, saying that such gap was responsible for the clamour for the establishment of state police.
Cobham said that if the federal government should live up to its responsibility, the security problems in the country will reduce and the funds used by the state government on security will be channelled to other sectors.
The Acting Governor commended officers and men of the NPF for their dedication in ensuring that the state remains the most peaceful in the country despite the risk involved in the discharge of their duties and urged them to keep it up.
He however frowned at the situation where brand new vehicles donated to the police were not maintained and in most cases do not last up to six months even when they were supposed to have a life span of four years as they were used hourly and advised the police to use them as they use their personal vehicles.
Commissioning the vehicles, the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar represented by the Assistant
Inspector General, AIG, in charge of Zone 6, Calabar Muktari Ibrahim said that the state had taken bold steps towards ensuring adequate security in the state with the provision of the necessary facilities.
The IGP said that the issue of security should not be left in the hands of the police alone as it required collaborative efforts of all though; he said that the police has the constitutional responsibility to protect the lives and property of the citizenry.