I‘m not a politician – A’Ibom CP

From Mike Etim, Uyo

Against the backlash of reports from some local state media linking his appointment as the state commissioner of police to the influence of Governor Godswill Akpabio, Mr. Gabriel Achong the Commissioner of Police Akwa Ibom State, has declared that he is not a politician.

Declaring his position at his first official press briefing with Journalists in the state at the state Police Headquarters in Uyo yesterday, Achong said that as a Commissioner of Police he was in government and would not shy away from working with the state government to sustain security in the state.

“I am not a politician and can never be a politician. Leave the policemen from politics, for you to say I am close to government, I am government myself. I cannot work outside government. Congress is coming up, I am not a delegate and my duty is to keep peace”. The commissioner stated.

Speaking further, he said “I will do what my conscience wants me to do, I have a conscience”.

To buttress his neutrality, he disclosed that on hearing of his appointment, even some opposition members called him to commend him on his posting to Akwa Ibom State.

The police commissioner assured that ahead of the Party Primaries coming up on October and the election in 2015, he will relate with every party in the

state to consolidate on the security position in the state.

While promising to give a level playing ground to all parties in the course of the elections, he said policemen will be posted to nooks and crannies in the state to sustain security.

As a step towards further ensuring security in the state, the police chief urge members of the public to have police emergency numbers on their finger tips saying that time was paramount to solving of crime.

He charged the public to cooperate with the police as men of the force were not magicians to solving all crimes.

In terms of crime rate in the country, he said Akwa Ibom did not reckon among the 20 crime prevalent states in the country, and these he attributed to the state governor Godswill Akpabio provision of necessary tools for combating crime in the state.

In a related development, the police chief announces that men of the force have picked up 2 suspects in connection with IED found in the Campus of the University of Uyo and were under interrogation.

He however called on car owners driving mostly Toyota Camry car models to ensure that they attached pedal locks and steering locks as a safety device to their cars as the model were the most stolen in the country.