Police crime prevention efforts rarely get public recognition – IG

The Inspector General of Police, Olukayode Egbetokun, says much of the Nigeria Police Force’s work in preventing crime goes unnoticed by the public, even though it is one of its most critical responsibilities.

Represented by the Deputy Inspector General of Police in charge of the Department of Logistics and Supply, A. A. Hamza, the IG spoke in Abuja on Thursday at the first joint forensic conference and the public presentation of a book titled “Fraud Unmasked”, authored by Dr. Preal Ogbulu.

“For every crime that is prevented, for every crime you don’t see happen, a lot of efforts are put into it. The Constitution and Section 4 of the Nigeria Police Act mandate the Nigeria Police Force to prevent and detect crime. Most importantly is preventing crime. It is cheaper, it is faster, and it reduces victimisation to victims.”

He noted that public assessment of the police often focuses on crimes that occur, overlooking the successes in prevention

Egbetokun said, “So for every crime we prevent, we are not seen as doing anything. But when we are actually rated is when crimes that take place. Even at that, we are given the responsibility as Nigeria Police Force to prevent, detect crime, and prosecute offenders.”

Egbetokun commended the author for addressing issues of forensic investigation, which he said are essential in both preventing and prosecuting crimes.

He said the book aligns with the core mandate of the Nigeria Police Force and underlines the importance of partnerships in tackling crime.

One of them is that the book pointed out that no agency can do it alone. So we must have collaboration. Having collaboration is what Olukayode Egbetokun has stood for,” he said.

He added that inter-agency synergy had improved in recent times.

“We’ve not had it so good like now that we’re having very perfect inter-agency collaboration. And we’re making a lot of efforts and some successes,” he said.

On the value of forensics, the IGP noted that “the book has told us what forensic for. It is a science that helps prosecution. Digital forensic or forensic of fraud generally should aid prosecution.”

Speaking at the event, Ogbulu said, “The conference and book presentation focused on strategies to address fraud in Nigeria.

This conference and book presentation is on how we can tackle fraud in our society. Fraud is not just a legal problem but a national crisis, and it has robbed us of our opportunity and everything we stand for. We have brought together experts from various organisations into one room so that we can further collaborate on how we can tackle fraud, ” she said.