Dr. Ikioye Orutugu is the Commissioner of Police in Anambra State. He tells OKEY MADUFORO about how the state was policed during the recent visit of President Bola Tinubu and the security architecture adopted in promoting security in the state
What can you say about the hitch free visit of President Ahmed Bola Tinubu?
In the first place, there was no fear at all. There was no reason to be afraid of receiving Mr. President. This is because there were adequate preparations on the part of the Police and other service commanders.
There were a series of meetings coordinating all the security agencies that were expected to be part of Mr. President’s visit and also preparation on the part of the state government, because they knew the benefits both political benefits, social benefits, economic benefits and benefits of ethnic orientations.
We are beginning to realize that Nigeria is one country and like I always say, every nation, be it Igbo nation, Ijaw nation, Yoruba nation, Hausa nation, has an ideology. So, if someone says that I am Igbo and is celebrating IPOB ideology, all we need is understanding and gradually enlightening and educating others, and the present government has gotten to the point that people are beginning to appreciate the importance of being together.
We all know that all the challenges that we have has to do with that absence of understanding. If you go to Abuja where my family is staying, it is not like we have light in Abuja and down here in Awka we don’t have light. If there is no light, there is no light anywhere. So, it is not that we have selective light spread. So, we had preparations by the state government, preparation by the Police which is part of the federal government and grace from the heavens. Mr. President has arrived and performed all his responsibilities and left followed by some showers of blessing that you called rain.
Occasions like this, some people may want to shake the table politically because of the rivalry between the APC and APGA to stop the visit?
If I say that I was not worried then, I won’t be telling the truth. It only human for one to be worried but it was not a cause for anything serious concern. Anambra people are conscious of the implications of Mr. President not visiting. It will create that divide that have been the result of all these fears that you are talking about.
Anambra people want him to come APGA wanted him to come; APC wanted him to come. If you were part of the Presidential convoy, you would discover that Anambra people were ready for Mr. President and they were ready to receive Mr. President. There was no problem; Okada or Keke people did not give problems and IPOB and ESN did not give problems. This indicates that there is a new awareness in Anambra State, and from the security angle there is a high level of trust and confidence from the public on the security operatives.
What brought the catalyst to that?
Enlightenment and openness; community engagements, and since I arrived as the Police Commissioner, I have been visiting one community after community, engaging the people and the Town Unions and that bring about communication and communication comes from understanding and understanding comes trust , from trust you see the evolution of confidence .So it is all about engagement and openness and this issue of uniformed and armed mentality among the people but people are no longer reasoning in that form .
What we do now is intelligence-based policing. Since three four months that I arrived here we have been on this and it is yielding good fruits. We are policing the society without guns and once you have superior arguments people will surely believe in you at all times. Nowadays we have the internet and you can get information and manage it properly.
I didn’t need to go about harassing people with guns and all that you need is superior intelligence and engaging the community. You may go to that community with an AK 47 rifle, while the miscreants have AK49. So, all that you need is to use intelligence and that settles it.
How about the procession of firearms by non-state actors and they say in Onitsha people sell firearms?
Maybe you came back and gave me more information about that because I am not aware of that. If arms are there, then we know how to get around it.
How about the November 8th gubernatorial election in Anambra State, when they always transfer the Police Commissioner and the Resident Electoral Commissioner?
Well, I am not aware of the coming election and I have not been briefed about it. Also, INEC had not informed me officially or unofficially so I know nothing but I am aware that the primary elections have come and gone. The transfers are routine things that happen during every election and people or officers are swapped as well as non-INEC staff, so there is nothing strange about that. This is in a bid to make the electoral process effective results oriented and to make people have confidence in the electoral process.
In Nigeria, any action you take comes with an interpretation. If Nigeria is to play football today with eleven players then coach and assistant coach but we have two hundred Nigerian coaches and every Nigerian is a coach. If a player is removed by the coach people will start shouting why did they remove this player instead of the other player?
What are the gray areas of policing in Anambra State?
Are there really challenges of policing in Anambra State? What matters is time and with time we shall all get it right. All that we are waiting for is time and both the government and Police are doing their best. The only challenge that we have is the attack on our police stations and personnel. You post a policeman to one village and the people there would come and attack and kill policemen and tomorrow you want them to come back.
Some people came to plead with me to reopen their police station and send policemen there and I said that I cannot send my men there for them to be killed. So, I asked them how do you want me to post my men there when I cannot guarantee their safety? These policemen are people’s husbands, wives, fathers and brothers. This is not the way people can express their grievances because we have the Local Government Chairmen, Lawmakers, President General of the community and not to attack my men.
You see, a policeman doing his job as a patriotic Nigerian and they will be doing their job to protect the people and you do not know if he has eaten or if he or she is sick, and you go about attacking him. This is totally unacceptable to me and the Police Command. It is also my duty as the Police Commissioner to protect officers and men of my Command and we cannot tolerate this anymore.
