Betty Otimenyin on Monday assumed duty as the first female Commissioner of Police in Edo State.

Ms Otimenyin arrived at the headquarters of the Police Command in Edo, some minutes before 10 am, where she inspected the guard mounted in her honour.

The commissioner of police, who is the 49th to be deployed to the state, was received by senior officers of the command.

Otimenyin replaced Umoru Ozigi, who retired from the service on Saturday, after attaining the mandatory retirement age of 60.

In a short interview with newsmen, the police chief, who also hailed from Edo, said she would do a lot to reduce the rate of crime in the South-South 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 said.

According to her, the command will be tougher on violence against women and children.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Otimenyin enlisted into the Nigeria Police Force as a Cadet Assistant of Police (ASP) in 1992.

Before her redeployment to Edo, she had served in various commands including Force Intelligence Department (FID) as Commissioner of Police, Administration.

NAN