IGP Assures of Improved Security in Rivers, Commission’s Intelligence, Surveillance Centre

Blessing Ibunge in Port Harcourt

The Inspector General of Police (IGP), Usman Alkali Baba, has assured of improved security across all communities in Rivers State and environs.

Baba gave the assurances yesterday, while inaugurating the Intelligence and Surveillance Centre, built by Governor Nyesom Wike’s administration in Ogbum-Nu-Abali community, Port Harcourt.

The IG, who thanked Wike for providing the centre, said it would enhance the police capability to perform according to international best practice.

“Your excellency, this project is a main boost to my agenda of policing  Nigeria in this contemporary times, which is in tandem with providing international best practices of using technology and ICT to police with ease,” he said.

According to him, the entire state capital, Port Harcourt, would be under surveillance and monitored within the control room of the centre, noting that the services to access at the Intelligence and Surveillance Centre would be combined with the police Cyber Crime Unit to render improved policing to Nigerians.

“I want to assure you that police will make judicious use of this centre in collaboration with our cybercrime unit to tackle all forms of crimes and criminality. We will do the needful to discharge our duty as expected,” the IG said.

The centre, he noted, could also be opened to other security agencies, on the basis of collaboration, synergy and cooperation to achieve real time monitoring of crime incidences and apprehension of the culprits.

“You can sit and police Rivers by getting a live incident report and you can also have the opportunity to send a team that is on standby at the station. I think this is the international practice we will encourage, and also appeal to other state government and other stakeholders to repeat such project that will make human factor not an issue,” he said.

Handing over the project to the police authority, Wike noted that the Centre was built by his administration with the sole aim of boosting efforts of the security agencies in crime fighting in the state, explaining also that the centre was fitted with the latest technology and it would help in improving crime-fighting capability of police officers and make the state safer.