The Delta State Police Command has set up a special task-force to enforce the recent directive issued by the Force Headquarters banning roadblocks in the country.
It will be recivied that the Acting-Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Solomon Arase, recently directed that all police roadblocks nationwide should be disbanded.
The Commissioner of Police in Delta, Mr. Usman Alkali, told newsmen, yesterday, in Asaba that the command was determined to ensure full compliance with the directive. “The IGP has maintained that roadblocks remain banned.
“ But there is a difference between roadblocks and stop-and-search, so police visibility on the road and stop-and-search operations are allowed’’, he said.
The commissioner said the command would continue to adopt the stop-and-search method of crime prevention as there had been complaint on this. “It is only when you see roadblock being mounted, that is, when they block a portion of the road or that there are obstacles that would force you to stop, that amounts to roadblock.
“We have a special task force put in place to enforce compliance. We call it X-4.
“We are monitoring, but we cannot be everywhere. We still require assistance from members of the public”, Alkali said. The police boss, however, admitted the possibility of exploiting the stop-and-search method by bad elements in the Force to extort members of the public. “We expect the people to be vigilant and report any of such incident to the police authorities.
“Where the stop-and-search turns to extortion, that is where there is a problem but for the police to stop you on the road, search your car booth and allow you to go, it is a routine crime prevention method”, he said. Alkali said that the command was determined to check corruption among its rank and file.
