By Patrick Obia
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The spokesperson of the Nigerian Police Force, Cross River State Command, SP Irene Ugbo has warned that the forthcoming general election is going to be eye-for-an-eye.
She went on to direct Policemen to return fire if fired upon in the course of duty. SP Irene also cleared the air about why the Anti-Cultism/Kidnapping Squad of the force behave in a dreaded manner, this she said is because they “need to behave like criminals to catch criminals.”
Irene made the clarification on “The People’s Opinion” a program on Fad 93.1 FM Calabar where she stated that, the personnel whose activities oftentimes are questionable need to operate that way due to the hardened criminals they interface with.
She disclosed that the unit was formed following the disbandment of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS, and the men absorbed into the unit.
“Anti-Cultism/Kidnapping Squad is a very strong body in the Police. We have the conventional Police officers, the Mobile Police officers; over the time we used to have SARS but after the #EndSARS saga we now opened another outfit which is called the Anti-Cultism/Kidnapping Department.
“They deal with hardened criminals like kidnappers, armed robbers; murder cases are no exception to it. These guys are not happy, when you’re going to catch a criminal, you have to look and be like a criminal. That is just the truth, you can’t be ordinary and just go and face hardened criminals. People say they carry cutlasses, what do criminals carry? Of course they carry guns, cutlasses, daggers, and all sorts of things.”
Reacting to the death of APC Ward 7 Youth Leader in Calabar South, Mr. Emmanuel Joseph who was allegedly killed by a trigger-happy officer of the unit, Ugbo said Emmanuel was shot in a gun duel with the personnel.
Her words: “The guy came with a pistol and some charms that were round all his body. He shot at the Police and in the process of retaliating, the bullet hit him on the chest.”
She called on the Police to fire back whenever they’re confronted, adding that the 2023 general elections will be “eye-for-an-eye.”
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