Our strategy against armed robbers, pipeline vandals is paying off — Oyebade, Oyo Police Commissioner

In line with the policy of the Federal Government to secure the economic environment, the Nigerian Police is putting measures in place to curtail bank robberies, attacks at Automated Teller Machine (ATM) points, pipeline vandalism, insurgency and any form of act capable of hindering investments inflow and Foreign Direct Investments into the country. The new Commissioner of Police, Oyo State Command, CP Adeleye Olusola Oyebade, speaks on the strategies mapped out by his Command to curtail crime in the State.
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When you took over the Command, what were the structures you met on ground and what measures are you putting in place to ensure effective policing?
To start with, I want to appreciate the confidence reposed in me by the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Solomon Arase, to deploy me to Oyo.
I  assumed duty on September 1, 2015, and I addressed the men and officers of Oyo Command about our new strategies to curb kidnapping and cultism. We are going to prevent insurgency and terrorism in the state by fostering intelligence-led policing. We have already introduced community partnership approach, which implies carrying along stakeholders in various communities in the state, and working in synergy with sister agencies to curb crime.
We are emphasizing on re-assurance policing, respect for human rights and strict adherence to the rule of law. We are going to ensure constant capacity building programmes for training and re-training of officers to inculcate core values of discipline, hard work and humility into the personnel, who must be professional, fair and firm in policing our people. Such core values will adequately equip our officers to face the challenges of modern policing. We are re-emphasizing the importance of the IGP’s anti-corruption drive, especially on stop-the-bribes concept, which we must implement to the letter.
The NPF now has a website;  http://www.stopthebribes.net,    were we receive complaints from the public on any officer who aids, abets or demands bribe in the course of performing his duty.
President Muhammadu Buhari is giving priority to security, how is your Command keying into this concept?
The IGP is repositioning the NPF to brace up with the modern day policing techniques, and he is working tirelessly to ensure security of lives and properties in the country. He has introduced a new vision and dynamism into NPF to have human face. So, I must commend him for that.    Now, hard work and ethical conduct are imperative for us to uphold best practices in the discharge of our professional duties. In Oyo, we  operate with intelligence-led policing by going ahead of criminals to get information and evidences in order to enforce arrest, such evidences are used in diligent investigations and prosecution in line with the law.  I made a solemn resolution to confront criminals with a renewed vigour, relying on synergy with the public to enhance quality service delivery.
In furtherance of these proactive steps, I immediately set in motion the machinery to achieve this goal.  For instance, during an intensive routine patrol of Lagos-Ibadan Express-way recently, our officers intercepted two fuel-laden Bedford buses. They apprehended the hoodlums who vandalised petroleum pipelines at Bare village,in Ajanla area. Our patrol team nabbed the vandals and recovered  exhibits. These unpatriotic citizens vandalised petroleum pipelines in various locations within the state, causing serious financial losses to government, as a result of their economic sabotage. The suspects are; Nurudeen Adegbite- 40years, and a resident of Lodge community in Oke-Ado, Ibadan, Taofeek Hamzat- 45years,residing at Iyana Asanke,    Elekuro area of the state, Ayotunde Adedayo- 29-years,    a resident of Olunde Academy area of Ibadan. The exhibits recovered from them were one red Ford bus, a blue Ford bus and 13 drums of petrol.
Besides pipeline vandals, can you give us the statistics of recent crime rate recorded by your Command?
Also, Oyo Command, through the collaboration of our strategic partners, coupled with painstaking investigations made a breakthrough by smashing a three-man syndicate of notorious armed robbery suspects, and recovered arms as well as loots. The criminals had been terrorising members of the public, motorists and other road users along Igbeti- Kishi road, maiming and dispossessing victims of their hard-earned money and other valuables. Infact, the last operation by the gang was carried out on August 25,2015, at Okun village, near Igbeti community, during which they robbed one Chief Rafiu Ojo and Fatumbi, who were travelling from Ilorin to Kishi in a red jeep. The suspects arrested include Mr. Babuga Majo -27years, Mr. Abubakar Sheu-26years, and Mr. Abdullahi Muhammed – 23years.  The exhibits recovered from them include one locally made single barrel gun, cutlasses and assorted phones belonging to the victims.
In another development, the Command arrested a syndicate of armed robbers who were responsible for the spate of robberies in many villages in Saki and environs. The visibility policing strategy of the Command paid off when the patrol team of Saki Division in collaboration with our strategic partners apprehended the suspects, who robbed a Fulani trader at Bugudu village and dispossessed him of a large sum of money. Some of the suspects who confessed to the crime include Sidi Marugobi-27years,    Alimi Aliyu-20years, a Fulani resident at Akitipa village in Saki community. Currently, the Command is intensifying effort to arrest a fleeing member of the gang.    Some of the exhibit recovered from them were one cut-to-size- locally made pistol, cutlass, a knife, mask, two telephones and the sum of N63.000 cash, being Alimi Aliyu’s share of the money robbed.
In the same vein, through intensive investigations, our Special Anti-robbery Squad arrested a notorious armed robbery suspect specialised in snatching of flashy cars at gun point, and removing them from where they were parked. The suspect, Tosin Olamide George, Aka Olorunwa- 32years, was responsible for series of stolen vehicles in many parts of the state. The exhibits recovered from him were, a Toyota Camry with registration number: LSD 659DR and one master key.
So far, have your Command uncovered any new trend of crime?
Yes. We have taken cognisance of the dynamism of crime and we are re-strategising to meet the challenges of the emerging new trend of criminality.    For example, our men arrested another notorious armed robbery suspect specialised in robbing operators of tricycles (commonly known as keke), and dispossessing them of their tricycles. The exhibits recovered from the suspect include two live ammunition and one English-made revolver pistol. Aside from these figures, the Command also recorded numerous robbery cases where stolen vehicles were recovered from the robbers.
With the dynamism of crime uncovered so far, what unique approach will your Command adopt to secure the lives of people and properties, especially in the banking industry that is already prone to attack by armed robbers?
Immediately I assumed office, I visited the State CID and intimated the officers of our new strategies, which I cannot reveal completely to the public for security reasons. We are appealing to the public to give us credible, reliable and dependable information, as we will treat such information with utmost confidentiality. We have improved on our response time to distress calls from members of the public, to ensure that we move instantly to the scene of crime. We are going to work with religious groups, traditional rulers, youth associations and people from all strata of the society to ensure effective policing.
Policing is everyone’s business and that is while we need the consciousness of the public. Families must be involved to ensure that their wards do not access wrong information that can lure them into crime. Schools have a role to play at enlightening students about the dangers of getting involved in crime. We will work in synergy with government’s agencies like the Federal Road Safety Corp (FRSC), Civil Defence, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Armed Forces, the Prison authority and the Legal department, Ministry of Justice in Oyo, among others agencies, because we have a common objective. We are also improving the welfare package for officers to boost their zeal in the job. The professional ethics and core values must be displayed by our men in Oyo, and I will provide leadership by example.
Coming to the banking industry, we are going to partner with the Bankers’ Forum to tackle armed robbery in the banking environment. There are dynamics of crime and we will work with the Bankers’ Forum to reduce attacks on commercial banks to the barest minimum. We must do our best to ensure safe banking environment in Oyo.
Oyo State has a wide terrain with border points between Nigeria and other countries. How do you intend to adequately cover this region?
We have mapped out new techniques to police each terrain, taking cognisance of the culture and orientation of the people.    I took over from CP Musa Katsina, who is one of the brightest in NPF.    I have tremendous admiration for his achievements and the legacies he left behind. I promise to build on the good work already done by him in Oyo. Most of our work is done at the divisional level, and I urge the Divisional Police Officers (DPOs) to create a condusive working ambience for their subordinates. I believe in team work, and the team must be able to identify new strategies to defeat the opponent. We must work with proper planning to prevent poor performance. We will embrace intelligence-led policing and conduct our investigations with professional dexterity.
Recently, the IGP convened the National Security Summit in Abuja, where the President  was in attendance. Can you tell us the significance of that    summit?
The presence of the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces underscores the high priority of the current government to security of lives and properties. The theme was, ‘Community Partnership Approach to International Security and Crime Management’ The overwhelming consensus of participants at the Summit shows a paradigm shift towards involvement of our communities in effective policing.
Can you tell us about your background and contributions to NPF before your deployment to Oyo?
I had my primary and secondary education in Lagos. After that, I obtained Bachelor of Science degree in Sociology and Master of Science (M,Sc.) Sociology, with specialisation in Criminology,    from University of Lagos. Interestingly, I did my NYSC in my former secondary school, where I taught Government and Economics. There, I met my former teachers in the same staff-room where I was a student before going to the University. The school Principal became very proud of me. I got the Police job, as a Cadet Inspector, the same day I got a job as a graduate assistant in a State University.  I like academics but I thank God that, I made a good choice in settling for the Police work.
Before my deployment to Oyo,    I served as the Commissioner of Police, Maritime Command, Lagos, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Command headquarters,    Umuahia, Abia State, Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of operations, Zone-5 headquarters    Benin, Deputy Commissioner of Police, in charge of Administration, Railway Command, Ebute-Metta, Lagos. I also served as Area Commander, Port Harcourt Metropolis, Assistant Commissioner of Police in charge of administration, Abuja, Deputy Commissioner of Police, State CID, Panti, Yaba, Lagos, Principal Staff Officer 11 to the Inspector General of Police (PSO 11-IGP), Divisional Police Officer, Ipaja division, Lagos, Airport Command’s Operations’ Officer, Lagos and Railway Police Officer, Pen Cinema, Lagos. Others  include Officer in Charge, General Investigation, Zone 2 headquarters, Lagos, CSP in charge of administration and Divisional Police Officer, Babura, Jigawa State, DPO, Ilupeju, Lagos, Staff Officer Junior (SOJ), DCO,  Iperu division, Ogun State, Personal Assistant to DIG training, Lagos, Operations Officer, Surulere division, Lagos, Divisional Crime Officer, Aramoko, Ekiti, Divisional Traffic Officer in charge of NYSC camp, Mubi Adamawa State, among others.   On the whole, I give Almighty God the glory and I thank the NPF for the opportunity given to me to serve our nation