Mr Mohammed Adamu, Inspector-General of Police, has ordered the immediate deployment of the Police Intervention and Stabilization Forces to Oyo State on order to stem the tension and apprehension in the state.
The special Police squad, otherwise called ‘Operation Puff Adder II,’ is being deployed reportedly to reinforce the fight against banditry, kidnapping, armed robbery and other violent crimes in the land.
The special team, which would be intelligence-led and community-driven, is expected to operate in collaboration with the Armed Forces, the Intelligence Community and other sister security agencies.
The squad is said to be aimed at re-dominating and reclaiming the public space from criminals that are bent on threatening the internal security order across the country in a bid to bring them to book.
The IGP, during the flag-off of the Special Operation at the Force Headquarters, Abuja, noted that Operation Puff Adder II is an initiative of the Force conceived from a deliberate and critical evaluation of the pattern and trend of crimes in the country.
With the Special Operation, there shall be massive and well-planned deployment of both human and other operational assets of the Force to reinforce and consolidate on the successes and achievements of Operation Puff Adder I, launched by the IGP in April, 2019.
The IGP further noted that the flag-off is the first phase of the operation targeted at the full restoration of peace and security in the country.
The operation, he said, is aimed at dislodging bandits from their current operational spaces (in parts of the north) and denying them space to regroup in other parts of the country. It will also ensure that all arrested bandits and their collaborators are brought to book.
In the long run, it is expected that the operation shall be replicated across other states of the Federation to deal with the security challenges inherent in those States.
The IGP, while assuring the Police operatives of adequate welfare provisions during the mission, charged them to be civil with law abiding citizens but firm and ruthless with criminal elements who may want to threaten the safety of citizens in their Areas of Responsibilities.
