Delta State Commissioner of Police, CP Abaniwonda Olufemi said he has dispatched a team of policemen to the scene of the vandalised portion of the Second Niger Bridge.
Olufemi said the latest vandalisation of the bridge where installed rail fittings were uprooted by unknown vandals has turned the bridge into a death trap, especially at night.
The CP stated this while hosting the leadership of the Asaba Correspondents’ Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) led by its chairman, Comrade Ifeanyi Olannye who were on a courtesy visit to the police commissioner.
“When the news came to us. I quickly dispatched my Area Commander to go and look at it, and ensure that the place is secure.
“We called the Engineer here in Delta, the man said he was not in his area that he is in Anambra. I asked them (the Police team led by the Area Commander) to remain there. They have called the Engineer in Anambra.
“Those things (vandalised rail fittings) are so heavy and you would be asking, ‘how did they remove them?” the CP queried.
On banning bike riders and scavengers popularly called ‘Okada and Iron condemn,’ the CP said, “The thieves are on drugs. The level of abuse of drugs among our youths is extremely high. I spent time in the North. That is why these scavengers in the local parlance known as ‘Iron Condemn’. They are also a source of criminality. I am not outrightly accusing them, but if you look at it they too take drugs. You can’t believe it, if you put this house, if possible in their sack, they can carry it”.
The CP expressed joy that since the ban on ‘Okada’ and ‘Iron Condemn,’ there is a lot of down trend in crime across the state, pointing out that he played a major role in getting the government to place the ban following the upsurge in crime traceable to them.
“A lot of these ‘Okada’ people don’t even have registration number, even when they commit a traffic offence, there is no way you can trace them,” Olufemi said.
He also solicited the support of the press in partnering with the Command, “We are going to ask for your continuous partnership. If you (press) do not project or do not talk about what we do, there is no way that the populace will know what is going on. Without the Fourth Estate of the Realm, anything you do is a waste of time even government too”.
Earlier, the Comrade Olannye asked the Command to sustain its efforts in crime fighting and prevention, assuring that members of the Chapel will not relent in giving adequate professional coverage to the police activities.