The Anambra State Commissioner of Police, CP Nnaghe Obono Itam, has urged keke owners and riders in Awka North and South Local Government Areas to be bold enough to expose the bad elements perpetrating all manner of crime and illegalities around them.
The Police Commissioner, spoke on Sunday, at the headquarters of Awka South Local Government Area, Amawbia, during a stakeholders’ meeting organized by the leader of Tricycle Owners and Riders Association of Nigeria (TOAN), Awka South Chapter for its members in the area.
The CP at the event condemned, in very strong terms, the attitudes of some keke riders, who join forces with criminal elements to perpetrate all manner of evil in Anambra State.
Itam, who was represented by the officer-in-charge of operations at the State Police headquarters in Awka, CSP Odumu Williams, told the participants that he came to give them some hope and guide them on how to operate hitch-free while on the roads.
CP Itam, who noted that there is no perfect society, even in developed countries, appealed to the tricycle operators in Awka South and environs to always see the police as partners in their duty, assuring them that they are there to help them as they go about their legitimate business in the area.
He revealed that the command under his administration has arrested and detained so many police officers because of the unprofessional way they handle civilians, especially the keke riders.
“When attacked by a security officer, you have to react as a human being, but be careful so that your reactions do not negatively affect the judgement you want to get,” he warned them.
The police boss, who noted that in the civilized world, the issue of security lies in the people’s hands, asked Ndi-Anambra to always remain security conscious by exposing the unscrupulous elements living around them.
He called on the people to select their lines of communication and be careful of the bad eggs among them, reminding the participants that the present government in Anambra State is doing its best in terms of security.
While describing the Keke riders as very valuable assets in Anambra State, the CP categorically made it very clear to them that they are also value creators and an important group of people in society because they serve mankind.
In his remarks, the Secretary-General of the Anambra State Tricycle Owners and Riders Association of Nigeria, Revered Elvis Okolie, said the meeting was organized by the union’s leadership in the area so that they could deliberate on issues that concern their members.
He utilized the opportunity to inform the Police Commissioner on the incessant extortions being meted out to their members in Awka metropolis and environs by his men while on their duty post, pleading with the Commissioner to use his good offices to tackle the menace against them by his men.
The Chairman of the Union in Awka South Local Government Area, Prince Collins Ozojiofor, decried the continued killing of their members in Awka and environs by unknown persons, including the Aroma Unit Chairman of the union.
In their contributions, Mr George Chukwuebueka, Chibuzor James, Abubakar Bilyaminu, and Cheta Miracle reminded the operators that the solution to their problems lay with them and advised them to obey traffic rules and avoid any form of crime while on duty.
