The Ekiti State Police Command has said the Inspector General of Police, Mr Ibrahim Idris, is not contemplating the scrap of the Police Community Relations Committee(PCRC) by his directive for the constitution of Committee of ‘Eminent Persons’ to help the force combat crime.
The Command , however, warned Ekiti community leaders against sabotaging the efforts of police by shielding criminals instead of allowing them to face justice.
The Commissioner of Police , Ekiti STtate Command, Mr. Etop James , said this in Ado Ekiti while inaugurating the committee of eminent persons for Ado Ekiti Divisions .
James said the inauguration of the committee was in compliance with the directive issued by the IGP that each command should nominate eminent persons from all the communities within their commands , who can divulge useful information to the police for better efficiency in the discharge of their duties.
The police boss, who was represented by Deputy Commissioner in the Command, Mr Sagir Abubakar, dispelled the insinuation milling rounds that the directive had automatically signed the death knell for the PCRc that has been in existent for years.
James added that those that would serve as ‘eminent persons’ in all the divisions across the state will be nominated by their traditional rulers and that they should be men and women of proven characters, who will not use their influences to sabotage police’s efforts.
The CP said the eminent persons were not in any way a rival body to the long-existing PCRC, but to play complementary roles in the protection of lives and property of the people.
“We are going to inaugurate eminent persons in all the divisions in Ekiti to fight crime, because we need information to perform. We are not going to scrap the PCRC, but the two will co-exist just for the good of all Nigerians.
“Their functions are to give information and help in intelligence gathering. And I know that those that will be nominated by the traditional rulers must be those who won’t cover up criminals. Don’t that will be able to expose evil person, even if he is their own son.
“People the community can vouch for, those which the people can easily approach and give them information for onward transmission to the police.
“They will also help in enlightenment campaign on how best to rid the society of robbery, Indian Hemp smoking and hawking and cannabis cultivation, which are the roots of all these evils”, he said.
A member of the eminent persons and a legal practitioner, Hon. Bunmi Olugbade, assured that the committee will take up the task with seriousness to make Ekiti a no-go-area areas for evil doers.
Olugbade advised members to see the task as a call to serve the people and not an opportunity to engage in unscrupulous acts that could jeopardize the security of the state.
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