The new Assistant Inspector General of Police in charge of Zone 7 Headquarters Abuja, Kayode Egbetokun, have been asked to sustain the momentum in the fight against crime and criminality in the nation’s capital.
The FCT minister, Malam Muhammad Bello, made the charge recently when he received a delegation of senior police officers from the zone led by the AIG on a courtesy visit to the FCTA.
He said a lot of progress has been made in the fight against violent crimes in FCT, especially in the rural areas where a number of kidnappers as well as their financiers and supporters have been arrested.
This, Bello said has led to the rescue of many victims and called on the AIG to ensure that the progress recorded continues.
In the words of the minister, “I want to say that within the recent past, a lot of progress has been made by your officers and men, starting from your zone, the Command of the FCT, as well as the DPO levels and I think this is very commendable.
“The issue of kidnapping had been of grave concern especially to our rural communities. I’m very happy that tremendous success has been recorded in the last few weeks, resulting in a lot of releases, rescue and also arrest of those who are involved, including their financiers and their supporters. I pray that this continues.”
He said that the long standing relationship between the FCT Administration and the police zonal command is a symbiotic partnership in which the FCTA will continue to provide the needed support and requirement to the police to enable it effectively carry out its responsibilities, which will ultimately augur well for the country and send out the right signals to the international community.
He urged the new AIG to work hard in his new post and wished him the best saying that serving in the FCT has a lot of advantages.
“Serving in the FCT has a lot of advantage. If you work very well, easily, it is seen. If you look at the history of all those who served as AIG Zone 7, most of them ended up being propelled to higher responsibilities. My prayer to you is that you will serve well here and may God make it easy for you and make you have a very successful tenure,” he prayed.
Speaking earlier, AIG Kayode Egbetokun said he was at the FCTA to express appreciate the minister for his commitment to ensuring security in the FCT and for the support granted to Zone 7 and FCT Police Command, especially for the operational vehicles given to the police in 2022.
He said, “I thank you very much for the commitment that you have shown for the protection of lives and property in the FCT. I also want to assure you that those vehicles you gave us have been put into judicious use and they have seriously impacted on operations within the FCT. I am also here to assure you that we are doing our best to support your efforts in protecting lives and properties in the FCT.”
Reiterating the commitment of the Zonal Command to ensuring security of the FCT, AIG Egebtokun said “We are improving on our deployment every day. We are doing our best and working so hard to ensure that there is efficient utilization of resources available at our disposal.
“We are constantly reviewing and reassessing our anti-crime strategies with a view to evolving new strategies that will meet evolving challenges. We are committed to the training of our officers and men to ensure that they are sensitive to the rule of law and that they are committed to protection of human rights”.
