The police commands in Imo and Edo states, on Thursday launched a security action plan, code named Operation Puff Adder.
The Edo State Commissioner of Police, Mr DanMallam Mohammed, who performed one of the inaugurations in Benin, said Operation Puff Adder was established to curb the activities of criminals in the state and their sponsors.
He said, “Social activity in the state is high and subsequently, vices like cultism, kidnapping, armed robbery, emerge in geometric dimension.
“Globally, contemporary security challenges such as insurgency and terrorism, armed robbery, kidnapping, cultism, proliferation of small and light weapons, herdsmen and farmers clashes, cattle rustling, illicit trade in drugs, human trafficking, armed banditry, cybercrime and illicit financial flow, are the evils of our time.
“The fight against these heinous crimes is a great challenge to our generation. It is in realisation of this fact that the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, launched Operation Puff Adder.
DanMallam added, Operation Puff Adder is based on the principles of community policing, intelligence-led policing, synergy with other security agencies, convoy/motorised patrols, stop and search operations.
The Assistant Inspector-General of Police in charge of Zone 5, Mr Dibal Yakadi, in his message, said the launching of the outfit was in line with the vision of the IG in ensuring a safer environment for the people.
Yakadi, who was represented at the event by the ACP (Administration), Emmanuel Effiom, stated that the IG had directed that Operation Puff Adder be launched in all state commands with a view to reducing crime and criminality.
Also, the Imo State Commissioner of Police, Rabiu Ladodo, who launched Operation Puff Adder, urged 2,786 policemen to deal decisively with the issues of kidnapping, armed robberies, cultism and other forms of crime.
Launching the operation at the command headquarters in Owerri, the CP said commissioned officers would respect human rights and the Force’s rules of engagement.
According to him, the IG had asked every police commissioner to launch the operation as a mechanism to deal with crime in their state.
Ladodo said the Operation Puff Adder had been aimed at taking policing closer to the communities with Divisional Police Officers heading the team in every division.
The CP said the operation would further reduce the response time of policemen to emergency situations in the state.
He said, Operation Puff Adder will deal with issues of crime as instructed by the Inspector-General of Police. We have mapped out strategies on how we can effectively achieve this.
“Within my short stay in this state, we have made modest achievements. We have been able to arrest 81 suspects and rescued 15 kidnapped victims.”
The Commander, 34 Artillery Brigade, Obinze Bakure, said the Army and other security outfits would partner the police to ensure that the operation was a success.
The Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, who was represented by the Head of Service, Callistis Ekenze, promised that the state government would always partner with all security agencies to nip crime in the bud.
