The new Commissioner of Police in Bayelsa State, CP Benjamin Okolo, has assured residents that the command under him would not be involved in partisan politics.
He gave the assurance on Monday, October 18, while speaking with journalists after he officially resumed duty at the state command headquarters in Yenagoa.
The new Bayelsa Police boss declared that officers and men of the command would be professional in their conduct while maintaining law and order, stressing that his office would not condone and form of unprofessional conduct.
He vowed that any policeman caught engaging in misconduct such as gross indiscipline and extortion of money from residents, particularly motorists, would be severely dealt with.
CP Okolo said he would revitalize and deploy the monitoring and escort units in the command initiated by the Inspector General of Police, IGP Alkali Baba, to fish out bad officers involved in wrongdoings.
According to him, the command would tackle the security challenges in the state by collaborating with stakeholders through community policing and effective use of intelligence capabilities of the police organization in line with the reform agenda of the IGP.
He said: “Let me reiterate that the command under my watch will be apolitical and professional in the engagement of members of the public and enforcement of law and order to make Bayelsa State safe for us all.
“We will deal with cases of incivility to members of the public, extortion and all forms of discreditable conduct. To quote the Inspector General of Police, ‘these professional infractions utterly negate our policing values just as they negatively impact on our drive to smoothen our partnership with citizens”.
He urged them to be motivated and carry out their duties with all sense of professionalism, discipline and diligence as programmes were being implemented to alleviate their problems.
Okolo takes over from CP Eworo Echeng who was redeployed to Anambra State on October 12, 2021 about 65 days after he was posted to Bayelsa on August 9, 2021.
