by crossriverwatch admin
The Cross River Police command is facing many challenges top among them being acute manpower shortage and lack of accommodation which has left the Command unable to man all the beats in the state while some police stations operate from containers.
Mr. Kola Sodipo, the State Commissioner of Police who made the revelation in Calabar on Thursday while briefing the Assistant Inspector General of Police, AIG, Zone Six, Musa Daura at the State Police Command headquarters said the state is fast developing which necessitates the creation of more beats but inadequate manpower and lack of accommodation has hampered the Command’s efforts .
Mr. Sodipo listed the other severe challenges confronting the Command to include lack of communication equipment, inadequate barracks accommodation, inadequate operational vehicles and armored personnel carriers for rapid response to crime scenes.
According to the Police Commissioner, only 20% of police officers live in barracks and “These barracks where they exist are dilapidated and require urgent renovation and this makes it difficult to mobilize men in times of need”.
He stated that some police stations in the Command are operating from rented apartments and the policemen in the command are frequently harassed by landlords when the Command is not able to pay the rents.
“Because we have not been able to meet up with the payment, the landlords have threatened to throw us out and reclaim their structure forcing us to use improvised structures such as containers as police stations”.
Addressing the policemen and women in the Command, AIG, Musa Daura warned them against illegal duties, road blocks, arrests and detention of people which he says amounts to indiscipline and anyone caught will be shown the way out of the force. “Anybody no matter how highly placed who is involved in indiscipline will be made to follow the regular disciplinary procedure and if found guilty you know the consequences, dismissal or suspension”.
He called on the police officers to continue to do their job well and sustain the tempo of performance in the force as the force has undergone several changes to meet up with the society which has become more dynamic. “Every one of you must sustain the tempo and do the right thing as the police of today is not the police of yesterday and if you do the right thing nobody will take the job from you but if you do not, then don’t complain when they take the job from you”
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