The Commander of the Force CID Liaison Office, Port Harcourt, SP Silas Oneli, says the rate of criminality in Rivers State has drastically reduced with the coming to the State of the new Commissioner of Police, CP Emeka Polycarp Nwonyi.
Oneli, who gave the indication in an interview with newsmen in Port Harcourt said the coming of CP Nwonyi to the State, coupled with the effective and efficient manner all other tactical formations of the police are working in the State, the rate of crime has drastically reduced.
He said the police command in the State is very proactive as officers and men do not wait for crime to happen before taking action, adding that the strategy his formation has adopted is to get closer to the people and to take them into confidence in the fight against criminality.
The police commander further noted that the police under the watch of CP Nwonyi is also intelligence- driven to the extent that officers very much rely on information provided by members of the public as they nose around to nip in the bud all criminal activities.
According to him, the police also work cooperatively with members of the public to actually know where the bad people in the society are located so as to fish them out.
Oneli described as cordial the relationship existing between his formation and other federal institutions around his office like the University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT) and the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital( UPTH), saying both institutions and other police tactical formations like the Choba Area Command and the Boundary Police Division have been very cooperative with his office to nip in the bud any criminal activities in the area.
According to him, his office has been enjoying the hospitality of these federal institutions and the police formations.
“If they have criminal infractions anywhere, they don’t hesitate to call. We are planning to form a common intelligence with them so that our work will be seamless”, he said.
Oneli enjoined members of the public to always feel free to volunteer useful information to the police, saying, “security is the work of everybody. We cannot do it alone without the cooperation of members of the public so that all of us can sleep with our two eyes closed”.
He also urged residents of the State to be watchful and vigilant at all times as well as to “see something, say something to the appropriate authorities”, assuring that sources of information would be highly protected, as all information would be treated with utmost confidentiality.
He, however, cautioned that peddlers of false information would be prosecuted, saying, the long arm of the law would surely catch up with them.