Edo Police better positioned to fight crime, says CP Kokumo

Edo State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Johnson Kokumo, has said the new security architecture and trust fund launched by Governor Godwin Obaseki, have positioned the police and other security agencies in the state to better fight crime.

Kokumo, who made the submission in a chat with journalists in Benin City, Edo State capital, commended Governor Obaseki on the deployment of resources to beef up security in the state, noting that “the deployment of resources has been quite helpful. This is as a result of the launch of the new security architecture in the state code-named Operation Wabaizigan.

On Operation Wabaizigan, he said, “we have patrol vehicles with the equipment required for modern-day policing job; ambulances; Armoured Personnel Carrier; Command and Control Centre; forensics and apparatus for policing on the waters. All these, of course, are components of the Operation Wabaizigan recently unveiled by Governor Obaseki.”

He said the new security architecture is an all-encompassing “security architecture that will address policing in the creeks, on water ways, air surveillance as well as policing on land. Not only that, all these of course amount to visibility policing.

“Visibility policing is an integral part of Operation Wabaizigan. You will see helicopter patrolling the air; you will see patrol vehicles at strategic points in the city and all the nooks and crannies of the state.”

He explained that “Outside police visibility, the Operation Wabaizigan has equally taken into cognizance the need for Command and Control Centre. This will go a long way in impacting on the performance of our security agencies. When something is happening, our Command and Control Centre is receiving information and equally disseminating information and sending signals to appropriate agencies not only in area of crime, but also in emergency situations.”

Noting that the Command and Control Centre help facilitate prompt response of first responders in emergency situations, he said it will be useful in attending to fire incidents, boat mishap, and other such incidents.

“Operation Wabaizigan, in the long run, will equally address the issue of forensics. You can begin to imagine the usefulness of forensics in investigations and in detection of crimes and criminals. Operation Wabaizigan is a welcome idea that would impact positively on the performance of enforcement agencies in Edo State,” Kokumo added.

On the security trust fund, he said, “As the name implies, the activities of the trust fund include sourcing for funds to provide the equipment needed for the security agencies to work. As we have in other places like Lagos for instance, it is the responsibility of the trust fund to raise funds from the public and private sectors to support security agencies in addressing security problems. Instead to heaping the entire demands of the security agencies on government, there is public/private participation in the funding of the agencies.”