The Awe Police station, in Awe community of Awe Kingdom in Afijio Local Government of Oyo state, has been upgraded to a Division.
Commissioning the new office in Awe on Thursday, the Assistant Inspector General of Police, AIG, in charge of Zone XI, Osogbo, AIG Adeleye Olusola Oyebade,mni stated that the upgrade of the police facility became imperative in order to meet the security need of the fast expanding community.
“The justifiable crave for safety in the face of daunting security challenges underscores the need to redefine our security architecture to meet the yearnings and aspirations of Nigerians for effective, efficient, intelligence-driven and service-oriented police force capable of providing safe and secure environment where peace and tranquility strives.
“Provision of robust security network for protecting all Nigerians, including other nationals domicile in Nigeria, is the primary concern of the Nigeria Police Force.
“This objective is premised upon the vision and mission of the Force within which community policing is situated. Community policing as a philosophy and pragmatic strategy as practised in more developed democracies, and as being canvassed by the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, NPM, mni, emphasizes public partnership that could engender quality service delivery.
“The mutual partnership between the police and the policed has always formed the cardinal policy thrust of the administration of the IGP and has formed the bedrock of his policing philosophy that must and should be embraced by peace-loving individuals, groups and communities.
“Realizing the importance of such conscious and voluntary collaboration, the Inspector-General of Police in a keynote address delivered at the Southwest Geo-political Zone Security Summit held in Ibadan on 2nd September, 2019 advised that ‘we must as a strategy, strengthen partnership among ourselves as a community on the one hand, and between the community and the police on the other hand’.
“This is because, according to him, ‘the strength of this partnership and the commitment of all actors within the process will undoubtedly, influence the extent of success we can record against criminals’.
“The indispensability of the community in the security design of the country, was further emphasized by the number one police officer when he opined at the said summit that ‘no police agency can succeed in its mandate without the consent, support and trust of the citizens they are engaged to serve and protect regardless of how well equipped, trained or motivated they may be’,” he stated.
While commending the contributions of Afijio Local Government, Jobele; Amo Farms Group of Companies, Bond Chemicals Ltd., Awe Descendant Union of North America and others, the AIG encouraged other communities, individuals, groups and associations to emulate Awe Community by contributing meaningfully to security and by joining the race to sustainable development, growth and peace which can only be made possible through effective, robust policing.
“I assure the people of Awe that the Oyo State Police Command and indeed the entire Zonal Command will not falter in their concerted efforts to provide adequate security not only for Awe community but as well as every part of the state. We have demonstrated this over time through several arrests of notorious, dare-devil armed robbery, kidnap suspects and other criminal elements who had hitherto served as a cog in the progressive wheel of the community and pains in the neck of innocent citizens.
“The Oyo State Police Command has demonstrated its commitment to security through recovery of cache of arms and ammunition from armed bandits, recovery of plethora of vehicles, motorcycles, household utensils and other valuable property stolen by criminal elements who until now festered in some parts of the state.
“As this police division is being commissioned today, I assure you that we will put the upgraded facility to good use. The effort of the community has further challenged us to redouble our efforts towards making the community safer. I assure the people that the policemen serving here and additional personnel that will be deployed later, to boost the manpower capacity of the new division will be diligent and highly professional in their duty and relationship with members of the Awe Community and its environs,” the AIG stated.
