Posted by John Ameh, Onitsha on
The Anambra State Police Command, on Wednesday, said that there had been no bank robberies in the state, especially its volatile commercial centre, Onitsha, since January this year.
The Anambra State Police Command, on Wednesday, said that there had been no bank robberies in the state, especially its volatile commercial centre, Onitsha, since January this year.
The statement came after many weeks in which the police played a hide-and-seek game over the matter, allegedly nursing the fear that such public disclosures could lead to a rebound by hoodlums.
Speaking while receiving the Director, Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, Enugu National Station, Mr. Kevin Ejiofor, at the command's Headquarters in Awka, the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Felix Ogbaudu, attributed the drop in bank robberies to adequate policing and the introduction of new methods of foiling banditry.
Ogbaudu, by this admittance, had confirmed an exclusive report by The Punch three weeks ago, that banks and the investing public were a bit at ease doing business in Onitsha lately due to the drop in attacks on banks.
The report found out that from an average of two to three attacks on banks in Onitsha and Nnewi per week in 2002, the statistics had dropped to one in October 2004, while there was none as at May 31, 2005.
The state government, however, claimed that it gave support to the command through the provision of crime-fighting equipment and the intelligence-gathering feat of members of the Anambra State Vigilance Services.
Ogbaudu, who declined comments on the new strategies employed by the police to foil robberies in the state, pointed out that the only way to assess the performance of his command was to compare the situation in Anambra with that of other states.
He added that with more men and firearms, the command could even surpass the present record, and urged Ejiofor to use radio to support the war against crime by running educative jingles on the duties of the police.
The Punch, Thursday June 23, 2005