In the bid to reduce crime by complementing other crime fighting outfits, Ekiti State Government on Friday launched a special patrol team named ‘Operation Flush’.
Speaking on the occasion at the Government House, Ado-Ekiti, the State Governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose, warned members of the team not to engage in harassment, extortion or intimidation of members of the public.
While reiterating the determination to reduce crime to the barest minimum in the state, Fayose also directed local government chairmen to ensure that road medians and shoulders are cleared across the state.
“All hands must be on deck to make police and security agencies succeed and we are supporting them in this regard. Majority of crimes are committed in the Northern part of the state and Ado-Ekiti, the state capital. A response team that would be able to respond quickly in any part of the state is what we need.
“The team is set up under the existing security structures of the military, police, the civil defence corps among others. I implore people to avail them the necessary information that they need to work with and succeed. They are not to harass, intimidate or extort anybody, as they will be monitored and as for me, I don’t have any opposition to harass or muzzle,” he said.
Governor Fayose added that all the necessary tools and encouragement would be given the members of the team to succeed.
The governor also promised that by the end of next year, all roads leading to the state from other states would be made motorable, so that criminals would not have any hiding place.
He listed such roads to include Ikere-Akure Road, Ifaki-Otun-Kwara Boundary Road among others.
The Commissioner of Police, Ekiti State Command, Mr Wilson Inalegwu, while addressing members of the team, urged them to sharpen their observatory instincts and collaborate with other patrol teams.
The CP also warned that they should not see themselves as superiors to their colleagues.
Inalegwu said anybody arrested should be immediately taken to the nearest police stations for further investigations.
The team is made of officers from the police, the military, the Department of State Services, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency.
