By Auwa Mohammed
Gombe (Nigeria) – A new Commissioner of Police, Shina Olukolu has assumed duty in Gombe State northeast Nigeria, with a promise to protect the lives and property of people in the state.
He promised to sustain the vision and mission of the police as being propagated by the Inspector General of Police (IGP), and called on the government and people of the state to continue to cooperate with the police by timely provision of useful information to enable the command discharge its responsibilities effectively.
In a valedictory speech, the outgoing state Commissioner, Austin Iwar expressed gratitude for a successful tenure devoid of controversy or embarrassment to either his person or the force.
He described the state crime prevention and community safety strategy initiated during his tenure as a landmark achievement that resulted in managing crime in the state to a satisfactory level.
Iwar said that, as a result of the awesome support from both the government and people of the state, coupled with the hard work and commitment of the officers of the command, Gombe recorded a 20 per cent decrease in crime from January to August 2017 compared to the corresponding period in 2015.
He cited instances where cases of armed robbery decreased from 45 in 2015 to 37 in 2017; culpable homicide reduced from 12 , Rape from 60 to 39, kidnapping 15 to 7, terrorism 10 to 0 while other offences saw a reduction from 884 to 729 all within the same period.
The outgoing CP also disclosed that from a peak of 1,026 cases in 2015, the command under his care saw to the reduction of offences committed in Gombe State to 819.
He said it was under his command that the notorious Political thugs known as (Kalare) was restrained, forcing several youths to denounce the sect, while the recalcitrant members fled into hiding.
“Our social crime prevention programme driven by the Gombe State Youth Empowerment Programme assisted tremendously in reducing crime.
“The skills acquisition programme delivered reformed hundreds of youths who hitherto were a menace to society. Hundreds of such rescued miscreants are now responsible citizens,” he said.
He appealed to the officers and men of the command to extend the same support to the new CP.
