The Inspector General of Police, Olukayode Egbetokun, has said that much of the Nigeria Police Force’s work in preventing crime goes unnoticed by the public.
He recently revealed that prevention of crime remains one of the force’s most critical responsibilities.
Represented by the Deputy Inspector General of Police in charge of the Department of Logistics and Supply, A. A. Hamza, the IG had his say in Abuja at the first joint forensic conference and the public presentation of a book titled “Fraud Unmasked”, authored by Dr. Preal Ogbulu
According to him, Nigerians should know that for every crime that is prevented, a lot of effort was put into ensuring it doesn’t happen by the Nigeria Police Force.
He stated that public assessment of the police often concentrates on crimes that occur, completely overlooking the successes in prevention.
“For every crime that is prevented, for every crime you don’t see happen, a lot of efforts are put into it. The Constitution and Section 4 of the Nigeria Police Act mandate the Nigeria Police Force to prevent and detect crime. Most importantly is preventing crime. It is cheaper, it is faster, and it reduces victimisation to victims.
So for every crime we prevent, we are not seen as doing anything. But when we are actually rated is when crimes that take place. Even at that, we are given the responsibility as Nigeria Police Force to prevent, detect crime, and prosecute offenders,” he said.
Egbetokun further hailed the author for tackling issues of forensic investigation, which he said are key to preventing and prosecuting crimes.
He concluded by saying that the book aligns with the core mandate of the Nigeria Police Force and reiterates the importance of partnerships in tackling crime.
“One of them is that the book pointed out that no agency can do it alone. So we must have collaboration. Having collaboration is what Olukayode Egbetokun has stood for.
We’ve not had it so good like now that we’re having very perfect inter-agency collaboration. And we’re making a lot of efforts and some successes,” he added.
