CP Blames Rise In Crime On Poor Societal Values

The Commissioner of Po
lice in Imo State, Mr Abdulmajid Ali, has attributed the increase in crime in the country to the degeneration of moral and societal values.
Speaking when he paid a courtesy visit to members of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) in Owerri recently, Ali noted that the crime rate was very low when people respected the norms, cultures, traditions of the land, the society and religious laws.
He identified the operations of baby factories, baby snatching, child abuse, rape of minors, teenage pregnancy and kidnapping as deviations from the societal norm.
The commissioner said that since he resumed office in Imo in February, he had reached out to some stakeholders, especially the security agents, on how to secure and move the state forward.
He solicited the cooperation of the press in information gathering and dissemination.
Ali, who described the press as partners in progress, urged its practitioners to work with his command to rid the state of criminals.
“My mission is to ensure that Imo State is peaceful and to consolidate on the good works of my predecessor.
“We want to operate a system where people will have a friendly and cordial access to the police to inform them of sensitive issues in the state.
“We have come to bring more improvement in the police force. We have come to provide security. We have come to make a change in the state,” he said.
Ali called on well meaning individuals in the state to join hands with his men to fight crime.
He faulted those linking crime to unemployment, saying that Nigeria had enough land for people to farm and advised the youth to embrace agriculture.
“We need the collective effort of all to fight crime. The police, parents, school authorities, religious bodies, all need to be involved. Everybody should join hands to sanitise the society,” he said.
Responding, the Chairman of the Imo council of the NUJ, Mr Innocent Igwe, commended the commissioner for the visit, his achievements so far and for promising to operate an open door policy.
He assured him of the cooperation of journalists in the state and urged him to ensure that his men were motivated for effective policing of the state.
It would be recalled that Ali took over from Mr Mohammed Katsina in February.