IG Orders Policemen To Be Ruthless With Secession Agitators
Acting Inspector-General of
Police, Usman Alkali yesterday ordered policemen to deal ruthlessly with
criminal elements and secessionists who attempt to test their will.
He spoke against the background
of a breakdown of security in many parts of the country.
In the Southeast and South-south,
policemen are being killed in attacks at their stations, which are also most of
the time burnt.
Policemen on checkpoint are being
wantonly killed by gunmen.
The Owerri correctional centre
was attacked and inmate freed.
The violent activities of the
separatist body, the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) have heightened.
In the Southwest, the voice of
separatists have grown louder with Prof. Banji Akintoye and Sunday Igboho,
spearheading it.
Yesterday in Enugu, the acting IG
launched special operation codenamed Operation Restore Peace (Operation RP) at
the Michael Okpara Square in Enugu, the state capital.
The IG advised the police
officers and men on the special operation to see their deployment as a call to
national duty.
The operation, the police boss
said, will be carried out by operatives of the Force in collaboration with the
Armed Forces, the intelligence community and other sister security agencies.
He solicited the support of the
civil populace, particularly traditional rulers, religious leaders, youth
associations, market bodies, cultural associations and professionals.
The IG believes that with the
support of all strategic stakeholders, the operation will in due course, change
the current security narratives in the region.
Enugu State Governor Ifeanyi
Ugwuanyi praised Alkali for the operation.
The governors of Ebonyi, Imo and
Abia states were represented by their deputies.
The Abia State Elders
Consultative Forum (AECF) warned against militarising the region.
In a statement by its National
President, Archbishop Princewill Ariwodo and its National Secretary Rev. Joseph
Adiele at the end of their meeting in Umuahia, the Abia State capital
yesterday, AECF said doing so would be counter-productive.
It condemned the arrest of Eze
Awurum who was allegedly tagged an IPOB member by the military and warned
against any extra-judicial killing of Igbo youths.
