The Abia State Government yesterday boosted the war against criminals in the state with a donation of 20 patrol cars to the Abia State Police Command for its operations.

The State Governor, Dr Okezie Ikpeazu, handed over the 20 patrol cars to the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr. Solomon Arase, who was in the state on a one-day working visit.

The cars, fully equipped with modern communication gadgets, were delivered to the police when the IGP paid a courtesy visit to Ikpeazu at Government House, Umuahia.

The Abia Governor said the vehicles were donated to the State Police Command in recognition of the efforts and gallantry of its officers and men in ensuring that criminals were driven out of the state. However, despite the feat so far recorded by the police in the state, Ikpeazu urged them “to step up their game and ensure that no place is comfortable for criminals in Abia.”

He disclosed that the bill on Security Trust Fund has been passed into law, assuring that the state government would continue to support the police in its logistics needs and welfare.

The governor noted that Abia was strategically located between the South East and South South geo-political zones, which exposes it to criminal activities propensity of criminals who are dislodged from neighbouring states.

“The criminal community has no home and is always on the move,” he said, adding, “every state should ensure that their borders are safe (while) we want to make our state as safe as possible.”

“We are not pretending that crimes can be wiped out completely but we want to keep it as low as possible,” he said.

Earlier, IGP Arase, whose entourage included a member of the House of Representatives Committee on Police Affairs, Hon Sabo Garba, stressed the need for state governments to support the police to do their job, not minding that the police is in the exclusive list.

He commended Governor Ikpeazu for the level of economic activities in Abia, saying that it was a sign that the state was enjoying appreciable reign of security.

“The security situation in Abia is tolerable,” Arase said, assuring that the police “would work assiduously to sustain the prevailing peace.”

Alluding to the spate of pro-Biafra protests that has rocked Abia and some states in the South East and South South zones, IGP Arase pointed out that though there is constitutional guarantee for people to engage in peaceful protests, such rights are not absolute.

He said that the police would not allow a situation where protesters impede the rights of others to move freely and engage in their lawful activities and also confront security agents, stressing that the pro-Biafra agitators should know their bounds.