By Linus Aleke
The Inspector General of Police, (IGP), Usman Alkali Baba, has blamed the spike in security threats across the federation on the increased rate of arms trafficking and proliferation.
He disclosed this yesterday, while addressing strategic police managers at the Force Headquarter in Abuja. He directed them to immediately commence a special visibility policing operation in their commands.
He said the initiative will encompass the crime mapping of their areas of jurisdiction, identification of vulnerable points and massive deployment of personnel on motorised and foot patrols of the cities.
The IGP noted that the initiative involves the utilisation of intelligence to undertake targeted raids on criminal cells, adding that an evaluation of the security situation in the country in recent times showed a concerning trend of an increase in the threat posed to the nation by terror elements, bandits, kidnappers, and other highly organised, and violent criminal syndicates.
The trend, he said, is being compounded by the increasing rate of arms trafficking and proliferation, adding that it has lately occasioned an attack on the correctional facility in Kuje during which some high-profile criminals escaped.
He specifically said, while the police, in conjunction with the other security agencies, have succeeded in re-arresting some of the fleeing felons and have enhanced the security of the facility, the incident, and the increasing violent campaigns by armed groups in the country, have led to general apprehension among the citizens and continued to present a major threat to our national security.
He said: “Despite this reality within the internal security space, I wish to acknowledge your resilience, sacrifice, courage, initiative, sound operational capacity, and loyalty not only to the Force leadership, but to our dear country in the discharge of your duties. This is the spirit that we set out to advance in the policing agenda which I laid out following my assumption of duty as Inspector General of Police and I am delighted that you have keyed into this our new policing mission.
“However, I must note that in the face of the current security situation, the citizens of this country and Mr. President demand of us a higher level of commitment to duty towards addressing the prevailing fear of crime among the populace and mitigating the current security threats. This is our mandate, and we must commit to achieving it. The pathways for this will form the key object of our deliberation today.”
IGP Baba reassured all citizens of the unwavering commitment of the Force to sustain the synergy with the military and other security agencies to reverse the current internal security slide.
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“We, however, cannot achieve this goal all alone. It is only by working in partnership that we can defeat the criminals who are our common enemies that are bent on altering our values for communal peace and security.
“I, therefore, solicit the understanding and continued support of all Nigerians, particularly, in volunteering critical pieces of criminal information which are vital to our mission of securing the public space in the most proactive manner. In addition, the pathways to giving effect to the National Security Council’s resolution on the documentation and streamlining of the operations of commercial motorcycle and tricycle riders across the country as part of the national initiatives that are directed at addressing current and evolving national security threats will also be discussed.
“In this regard as part of a major operational initiative to stabilise the internal security order, you are all directed to immediately commence a special visibility policing operation across your Commands,” he concluded.
