Edo State Commissioner of Police, Mohammed Dankwara

The New Commissioner of Police in Edo State, Adamu Dankwara, has ordered policemen in the state to ensure that criminal gangs are not given the space to operate.

He specifically ordered that those with illicit weapons should be tracked down and apprehended.

The Commissioner was quoted to have stated these in a statement on Saturday by the Secretary, Illushi Progressive Association of Nigeria, Andrew Ashibogwu when the group paid him a courtesy call.

The community has been ravaged by communal crises, and thuggery cultism among others which has led to the death of many persons including a chieftain of the  Peoples Democratic Party,  Jonathan Imawa.

The statement partly read,” There seems to be light at the end of the tunnel as the CP has ordered the arrest of all criminal elements fermenting trouble in the community.  The CP has ordered the arrest of any person carrying illicit arms in the community after an interaction with the executives of the Illushi Progressive Association of Nigeria, the apex association of the community.

The executive of the Association informed him of the many crises in the community, which included kidnapping, killings and intimidation by some group of criminal gangs operating in the community, and pleaded to the CP to come to the aid of the community.

 The CP in reaction warned that he will not tolerate criminal gangs that will disturb the peace of any community in Edo State. The CP seeks a collaborative effort between the youths and the Police.

The president of the Association Victor Giwa said the youths of Illushi in Esan South East local government area of Edo state are frustrated by the spate of insecurity in their community.

He said they have vowed to hand over anyone involved in criminal activities to the police.

“The community has since 2021 witnessed protracted crises that have kept the people and the Government of Edo state disturbed.

“Commercial activities in the community have been distorted, farming has drastically reduced and even the local council finds difficulty in collecting revenues from the market.

The youths have warned that will hand over any person found carrying arms in the community to the law enforcement agency.  We pleaded with the State commissioner of police to support them, with more officers to ensure we achieve this.

We equally warned that some police officers are also compromising their efforts by leaking information to the criminal gang in Illushi, that those officers will be exposed and reported to the Commissioner of Police,” the statement added.