Mrs. Betty Otimenyin on Monday assumed duty as the first female Commissioner of Police in Edo State, taking over from CP Umoru Ozigi, who retired on Saturday after reaching the mandatory retirement age of 60.
Otimenyin arrived at the Edo State Police Command headquarters at 9:55 am, where she was accorded a ceremonial welcome, complete with a guard of honour.
The new police boss, the 49th to be deployed to the state, was warmly received by senior officers of the command.
In a brief media interaction, Otimenyin, who hails from Edo, expressed her commitment to significantly reducing crime rate in the Southsouth state.
“I will do a lot of things until the crime level comes down. We will also look at extortion (among the men and officers) of the command. The Inspector-General of Police frowns at it,” she told newsmen.
Otimenyin vowed that the command would take a tougher stance on violence against women and children, ensuring perpetrators face the full weight of the law.
Persecondnews reported that on Thursday, January 16 the Police Service Commission (PSC) approved the appointment of Otimenyin to head the command.
PSC’s spokesman, Ikechukwu Ani, said the appointments were prompted by the impending retirement of outgoing Commissioners of Police.
Persecondnews gathered that Otimenyin enlisted into the Nigeria Police Force(NPF) as a Cadet Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) in 1992.
She started her career in Bauchi state Command and has served as DPO in various divisions in Plateau and Edo Commands, served as Assistant Commissioner of Police Administration in Kebbi state, and Nigeria Port Authority Western Port, Lagos State, also as Area Commander in Eleme Rivers State and Mbaitoilo in Imo state.
She was the Deputy Commissioner of Police Administration for Zone 13 Dunokuofia, Anambra State and Zone 5, Benin Edo state.
Before taking over the Edo command, Otimenyin had served as Commissioner of Police, Administration, at the Force Intelligence Department (FID) in Abuja.
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