The new Ag. Commissioner of Police in charge of Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD), Mr. Kayode Egbetokun, has said that the unit was fully prepared for the 2019 general elections and any other activities in the country.
The CP said the unit has no reason to fail the nation as the federal government has provided the necessary tools and logistics through the Inspector -General of Police to combat crime and explosives.
Mr. Egbetokun who was speaking during the quarterly conference of Commissioner of EOD Command with senior and EOD Base Commanders, said the meeting which was introduced 10 years ago, was to enable cross-fertilization of ideas among senior and base commander :
” It is a brainstorming session that is capable of becoming a solution warehouse for EOD problems. The for this conference is ” Excellent Service Delivery towards a Safe and Bomb free Society “.
” Explosives remain the weapon of choice for international terrorist organizations as well as local home grew terrorists and deadly armed robbery gangs. It is sad, however, to note that explosives are easily accessible to criminal network and has become a fact of life.
This poses a serious threat to internal security and a major challenge to the EOD terms.
” It is our duty to deter criminal use of explosives and other dangerous allied materials, but the task in our hand is to completely put a stop to it. This is achievable along with enhanced service delivery. The conference will look at ways of achieving this goal.
” We will from now double our efforts to ensuring strict monitoring of the distribution of explosives and allied materials. Our actions have been geared towards making leakages of commercial explosives impossible.
We will continue to deploy human and technical resources at our disposal to stop the criminal use of explosives and allied materials. We will upgrade our equipment and intensify our vigilance at the Airports, Seaports and border points to deter any illicit importation of explosives and allied materials.
” We will embark on enlightenment campaign and continue to brainstorm, strategize until we achieve our goal of safe and bomb-free society. Our commitment to achieving this goal is unwavering. The bomb that has not been with us cannot be allowed to remain with us “.
While declaring the conference open, he said the EOD was already a good brand, but that the best was yet to come and that steps were being taken to take the unit to a new level.
He said that in the next few months, a better brand would have emerged:” This rebranding shall be through excellent service delivery, discipline, dedication, professionalism, integrity, honesty, decent conduct, the clean and unique appearance of officers and men of EOD. Emphasis will also be on training and retraining of EOD technicians.
My posting as CP EOD at this crucial time is a challenge which I have taken with all seriousness and with so much excitement “.
He urged the members of the public to avail the police with information on the whereabouts of criminals in their areas.
According to him, the public should not waste time to report to the nearest police station or formation within their area when they see an object suspected to be explosives or any strange person in their area
