Insecurity: Police train 200 on intelligence gathering in Ondo

Not less than 200 policemen drawn from divisional police stations in Ondo State have begun training in intelligence gathering as part of efforts to tackle insecurity in the state.

The Commissioner of Police, Wilfred Afolabi, said the Command under his watch would focus on enhancing intelligence gathering to tackle security challenges across the state.

Speaking while declaring open a three-day training on intelligence gathering for the personnel drawn with the theme: “Basic Intelligence Course”, Afolabi explained that intelligence gathering and firmness are crucial for ensuring a proactive measure to a peaceful state.

The Police boss said through the training, participants would be better positioned to bridge the existing gaps, rebuild public trust, and enhance the overall security architecture of communities across the 18 council areas of the state.

Afolabi said the participants would leverage on intelligence gathering tools to drive policing strategies and prevent crimes in the coastal state.

His words: “Intelligence gathering is one of the most important section that is instrumental to breakthrough when it comes to policing and it’s so unfortunate that it’s one aspect that is so neglected.

“When I was the Assistant Commissioner of Police in charge of intelligence, Lagos, it gave me the opportunity to know that wherever I find myself, I should pursue the subject of intelligence gathering holistically. So, what we see happening today did come by accident. And to put the icing on the cake, it falls in line with the agenda of our Inspector General of Police, IGP, Kayode Egbetokun’s agenda.

“The IGP too, feels so concerned about the subject of intelligence and just two weeks ago, he was in Ilorin to revamp the intelligence school. Part of his agenda, too is on capacity building because we can’t be talking about professionalism, and then we exclude training. The catalyst that brings out professionalism is training and capacity building. And you will discover that since I arrived that has been my focus.”