Most police commands have complied with the directive of the Acting Inspector-General of Police, Mr Mohammed Abubakar, that check points be dismantled across the country.

It will be recalled that Abubakar ordered the top hierarchy of the police at a meeting in Abuja on February 13 that all check points be removed.

However, in the FCT, there are still partial blockade of roads where police and military offices are located in spite of the acting I-G’s order to dismantle all road blocks nationwide.

The FCT Police Public Relations Officer, Mr Jimoh Moshood, told NAN that the FCT Police Command had complied fully with the I-G’s order.

“There are no longer road blocks in the territory,’’ he said.

Moshood explained that the existing partial barricade set up on roads where police formations were located were “protective checks’’ for police installations.

Investigation carried out by NAN showed that one side of the Shehu Shagari Way cordoned off by the police before the order has been reopened.

The police headquarters, otherwise known as the Force headquarters, are located on the Shehu Shagari Way in the Central Area of the FCT.

In the heat of the bombings rocking part of the North, Suleja and Madalla, near Abuja, the side of the road where the headquarters building is located was completely closed with traffic diverted to adjourning streets.

Except the Divisional Police headquarters at Asokoro, all roads leading to police formations in the city centre, including the FCT Police Command in Garki, still remained partially barricaded even after the I-G’s order.

However, roads where the military offices are located in the FCT remained completely closed.

At Area 8, for instance, where the headquarters of the Army, Navy and Air Force are located, all the roads are closed to traffic. But at the Ministry of Defence headquarters in Area 10, only one side of the road is opened to traffic.

Also, the side of the road on the dual carriage way at Aso Drive, where the headquarters of the State Security Service (SSS) is situated remained closed to traffic.

Meanwhile, reports from Ibadan revealed that the checkpoints at Bodija, Ashi and Akobo areas of the city have been dismantled.

In addition, those at Omi Adio and Bakatari, two suburbs on the Ibadan-Abeokuta highway, have also been removed.

Equally dismantled were those at the Podo end of the Ibadan-Ijebu-Ode Road and the Falana-Challenge end of the Ibadan-Lagos Expressway.

The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mrs Bisi Okuwobi, said no officer would go against the order of the I-G as they were aware of the implications of doing so, stressing that the command had ensured full compliance with the ban.

However, a few checkpoints were sighted on the Ogbomosho-Oyo Road.

Reacting to the observation that some police officers were still at some check-points, especially on the outskirts of Ibadan, Okuwobi said residents were misconstruing the I-G’s order.

“Residents are misconstruing the order to mean that policemen should not be found on the roads at all. There must be police officers on the roads and as such, we still have the anti-crime patrols plying the roads in addition to the regular stop-and-search exercises by the police.

“The stop-and-search exercise is, however, not continuous but it helps in recovering stolen cars, property and arms from suspected people.”

In Ondo State, that notable police road blocks in the metropolis have been removed, leading to free flow of traffic but armed policemen in their vehicles were seen stationed at strategic areas of Akure to keep the peace.

The spokesman of the Ondo State Police Command, Mr Adeniran Aremu, said the Commissioner of Police, Mr Sani Magaji, had effected the order of the I-G in all parts of the state.

In Osun, police checkpoints have literally disappeared from the highways. All the checkpoints in Osogbo and other parts of the state had been removed.

Until the ban by the acting I-G, checkpoints were mounted on the Olaiya-Abere road as well as the Akindeko-Okefia road in Osogbo, causing a traffic snarl.

In Ekiti State, the Commissioner of Police, Mr Olayinka Balogun, said the residents must embrace the new Security Alert System put in place by the government.

Balogun made the appeal in Ado-Ekiti while addressing newsmen on how far the police command had complied with the new I-G’s directive to sanitise the force.

The police boss, who said that the security system put in place by government “is still largely underutilised,” however, noted that the command had fully complied with the directive to dismantle road blocks throughout the country.

He urged the people of the state to register under the Ekiti State Crime Prevention Scheme to enhance quick response to distress calls and effective policing.

In Lagos State, the checkpoints mounted by the police on the Lagos-Badagry-Seme border route have disappeared completely.

NAN reports that the policemen usually from the various formations, have not only disappeared from the road but have also removed all objects used to block the road.

The dismantling of the checkpoints on the road has not only eliminated the usual traffic bottlenecks, but has now enhanced the free movement of goods and services on the international highway.

Among the checkpoints on the road were those at Ijanikin, Agbara, Morogbo, Area K Command, Border Patrol at Oko-Afo, Mosafejo and Atiporome, Muwo, Badagry Round-About and the Seme Border Post.

Meanwhile, various Customs checkpoints on the road were sacked last year by the Minister of State for Finance, leaving only two at Gbaji and Agbara.

But the Lagos State Police Command said that the Joint Security Task Force between it and the army had not been dissolved.

Police Public Relations Officer Joseph Jaiyeoba said the task force was still in force and funded by the state government.

NAN recalls that the task force, which had earlier been dissolved was reinstated three years ago by the state government.

In Kwara, the order has been fully complied with with the removal of checkpoints on major highways in Ilorin and outside the metropolis.

The checkpoints on Asa Dam Road, A Division, Ajasse-Ipo Road, Garage Offa Road and Dangote Bypass have all been dismantled.

The spokesman of the police command, Mr Ezekiel Dabo, told NAN that the command had complied fully with the directive and warned that any police officer who erected structures in the name of a checkpoint would be dealt with accordingly.

The police command in Katsina State has also dismantled all checkpoints on the state’s highways as directed by the acting I-G.
A NAN correspondent, who went round the major highways, reports that they were removed barely 24 hours after the I-G’s order.

The checkpoints on Katsina-Jibia, Katsina-Kano, Katsina-Funtua, Katsina-Daura and Daura-Kano roads have all gone.

Other police commands in states like Kaduna, Adamawa, Gombe have also complied with the directive.