The coordinating Deputy Inspector-General of Police (DIG) in charge of Southwest, Sylvester Alabi, has said police officers attached to some influential individuals in the country have been withdrawn, in a bid to address shortage of manpower in the police force.

Abiodun stated this on Monday in Ado-Ekiti during his maiden visit to Ekiti State police headquarters.

Speaking with journalists, he said, “There was a time we accessed the level of deployment of Officers and we realised that there are some areas that we need to rejig the deployment particularly where manpower is being underutilised, they are recalled back. That issue of unnecessary waste of manpower has been adequately addressed.

“The only thing is that generally, we don’t have enough manpower, that’s why the federal government approved constant recruitment of more men to enable us to deliver our mandate effectively and efficiently”. he said.

Alabi also said the Nigeria Police Force will consider the adoption of drones and other technological means, to make Ekiti state and other sub-nationals of the country crime-free.

The DIG added that the force will not shy away from the use of drones, saying the security agency will imbibe a variety of technologies in a bid to achieve zero level of crime in the country.

“My coming to Ekiti state is to complete my assignment in the southwest geo-political zone.

“My mission complies with the Director Inspector General of Police, IGP Kayode Egbetokun, who directed all DIPs in charge of the six geopolitical zones to embark on tour across the six geo-political zones and access the strategic deployment of our arsenals in crime fighting and see how our officers are doing their jobs.

“This is to enable us to know the challenges they are facing in the course of their duty so that they can be addressed appropriately, so that their capacity and flexibility will be enhanced in delivering good services to the public.

“It’s not yet over, technological improvement is more essential. Gadgets like drones that will gather information for us, will dig into kidnappers’ hideouts will help to deal with them instead of us rescuing victims.

“Technology is very important, we will definitely migrate to imbibe the technological advances. It’s obvious that we can not effectively utilize our policing work without involving technological devices to assist us.

“We are not shying away from the usage of drones, we are going to get used to it”. He added

In his welcome address, the Ekiti State Commissioner of Police, Akinwale Adeniran hailed the DIG for his proactive and selfless service in the Nigeria Police Force.

He added that the command under his leadership has successfully tamed the activities of criminal elements across the State by creating an enabling environment for Ekiti citizens through the adoption and implementation of the community policing strategy