The police have predicted that the economic meltdown being experienced across the world may result in soaring crime rate in Nigeria
The Deputy Inspector-General of Police (Administration), Mr. Ogbonna Onovo, who gave this hint while addressing senior police officers in Gusau, Zamfara State capital last week, however, assured Nigerians on the readiness of the police to combat the vice.
According to him, Nigeria is not an island and therefore cannot be insulated from the economic meltdown and other happenings across the globe.
With the economic recession, Onovo predicted that crime rate would likely increase in the country.
He, therefore, charged commissioners of police to reinvograte their intelligence gathering skills, saying it was the only way the police could effectively face the task ahead.
Onovo, who is next to the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Mike Okiro, also regretted that many officers did not know how to cultivate and maintain their informants.
He said that many police officers were in the habit of short-changing their informants; a development, he said, had made the latter to stop giving information to the police.
Further blaming some of his colleagues, Onovo disclosed that incentives meant for informants were being diverted for personal use by the officers.
He said, “We all know that economic meltdown is ravaging the entire world now. Nigeria is not an exception and because of that we are going to experience increase in crime rate.
“You should go and work well. Intelligence gathering is the soul of this work. Go and cultivate people to enable you to gather information and also learn to take good care of your informants very well.
“Without them this job will be difficult to be done. But you must also tell them not to live flamboyant lifestyle so as not to expose themselves to the members of the public. Also, you must know that you need to give them allowance.”
At the parley, Police IG,Mr. Mike Okiro announced that some police officers were being trained by the State Security Service on intelligence gathering.
The officers he said would later train others.
It will be recalled that the House of Representatives Committee on Justice had invited Okiro and the Director-General of the SSS, Mr. Afakriya Gadzama, to come and explain why the rate of crime was on the increase in the country.
The duo would be accompanied by the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission, Mrs. Farida Waziri and the Attorney- General of the Federation, Chief Michael Aondoakaa (SAN).