Tag: IGP

THE Inspector General of Police  (IGP) Ibrahim Idris has directed that police divisions should begin weekly arms drills and other tactical operations.
Idris gave the directive to Divisional Police Officers (DPOs) through state commands to better position them in the task of securing lives and property.
He noted the need to constantly refresh the memories of policemen at the divisions of the trainings they received, adding that such drills would better position them to fight crimes and criminality.
According to the police boss, the deaths of his men in the hands of miscreants and criminals were troubling. Hence, the need to inculcate in them the ability to disarm their attackers and stay save while carrying out their duties.
He said: “We are taking training very seriously because we have seen the need for policemen and women to understand certain combats and arms drills. The killings of policemen by miscreants and armed robbers are troubling. Some of the policemen at the division have forgotten the basics they were taught in the training schools.
“So, these mandatory weekly drills at the divisional levels would refresh their minds and also keep them alert. They would learn weapon handling skills, how to disarm an opponent and other tactical and combat skills.”
Idris also emphasised the need to thoroughly drill the new recruits, who are undergoing trainings at different parts of the country, noting that recent realities and challenges must be taken into consideration in training the new intakes.

The police intensified raids on identified criminal hideouts and flash points nationwide yesterday as preparations heightened for Christmas.

The move was part of  “elaborate security arrangement and crime prevention strategies’’ announced by the force yesterday  to ensure a crime-free Christmas celebration.

The Force Public Relations Officer, DCP Don Awunah, said the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Ibrahim Idris had directed Commissioners of Police in the 36 states and the FCT to  “put in place a robust and elaborate security arrangement and crime prevention strategies to ensure a crime-free Christmas celebration nationwide.’’

Accordingly, conventional policemen and the personnel of the specialised units of the force were deployed to provide effective security and protection of life and property nationwide.

“The specialised units comprise the Police Mobile Force, Counter Terrorism Unit, Special Protection Unit, Federal Highway Patrol, Explosive Ordinance Department, the Armament Unit, Sniffer Dogs Section, the Marine Police and Police Air Wing.’’

Awunah said that police patrol teams had already been deployed on highways and major roads across the country, while surveillance squads would cover worship centres and other public places.

He advised motorists, commuters and other road users to cooperate with the police detachments and personnel deployed to maintain law and order on the highways and major roads nationwide.

“The IGP has directed the Assistant Inspectors-General of Police and Commissioners of Police in charge of zonal and state commands to personally be on ground to coordinate the operations in their jurisdictions.

“The police officers and men are under strict instructions to be very polite and civil but firm in the discharge of their duties during the period.

“They are to observe and respect the diversity and peculiarity of the people, display courage, show compassion and demonstrate professionalism in their interaction and engagement with the citizenry throughout this period.’’

The immediate-past Inspector General of Police (IGP),  Solomon Arase, yesterday in Kano advocated for the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) by security agencies for effective fight against crime and criminal activities in the country.

Arase, who spoke as a resource person at a workshop on Sensitization of Law Enforcement Agencies on Telecommunications Issues organized by Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), said that ”in advanced countries, ICT plays a prominent role in crime detection and control”.

According to him, the physical deployment of officers and men of the Nigeria Police Force to strategic places ought to be augmented by the use of CCTV to monitor and track down suspected criminal activities.

He noted that, “the number of policemen in the country today is far below expectation because they cannot be physically posted to all nooks and crannies to maintain security, adding that, all we required now is the need to install the CCTV and other devices to enhance its advantage in intelligence gathering.”

Arase maintained that, “the new technology will in no small measure help to detect any such crime committed and aid the gathering of trait to be used in tracking them down that could lead to their eventual arrest, which is now in vogue in developed countries.”

The former police boss, who is now a private legal practitioner, decried the way security agencies approach crime scene, “which most of the time destroys evidence that hampered diligent prosecution.”

He advised the NCC to collaborate with security agencies in the country to fashion out ways of using ICT to generate technical intelligence and monitor porting from one network service provider to another.

He added that “another challenge to security system in the country can also be centered on SIM registration whereby subscribers register with different names, using such SIM to perpetrate crimes.”

Arase further said: “In modern day policing,  our security agencies should generate concrete  evidence before effecting any arrest as against the current practice where suspected persons are apprehended before searching for  adequate evidence to enable security proceed to prosecute suspects.This feat could only be achieved through the use of ICT.”

The police boss urged security agencies in the country to form a synergy in tackling crime, “rather than working separately in order to take credit for themselves and their outfits. What is paramount and what Nigerians are asking for is a safe environment because no trophy is at stake for such competition”.

He said: “What the security agencies need now is the recruitment and services of core intellectuals, people with deep intelligence and professionally minded personnel to man our security operations in the country.”

MEMBERS of the Amodemaja chieftaincy family in Lekki in the Ibeju-Lekki Local Government Area of Lagos State have petitioned the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, over the invasion of their land by some thugs on Tuesday, November 29.

The petition, signed on behalf of the family by its General Secretary, Prince Amodemaja Thomas Adekunle, said the alleged thugs, who invaded the vast land with 10 buses all loaded with thugs  armed with dangerous weapons, such as AK-47, matchetes, cudgels, charms and iron bars, destroyed plants and shot sporadically.

These hired thugs, according to the petition, wounded many members of the family, and those who sustained injuries are receiving treatment in hospital.

“We are appealing for urgent intervention of the Inspector General of Police in this matter, so that all the persons involved in the invasion should not go unpunished”, said the petition.

Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, has received kudos from the Police Assistance Committee (PAC) over his zero tolerance for corruption in the police force since assuming office which is already reflecting on the sterling performance of the force.

The PAC, speaking through its Director – General, Dr. Martins John-Oni, at a security stakeholders’ conference held in Lagos State, noted that the IGP in support of the anti-corruption stance of the Buhari administration has been ensuring that no forms of corruption will be tolerated within the ranks and file of the police force both at their internal operations and external services to the public, including their engagement during electoral processes.

The organization commended instances where members of the police force caught in the web of corruption had been apprehended and exposed  by the IGP, sending signals to the entire force and the general public that it is no longer business as usual in the police force under the watch of the new IGP,

Dr. Oni, while pledging the continuous support of the PAC members nationwide to keep assisting the police force and other security agencies in the country through information dissemination and intelligence gathering to prevent and combat crime, urged the IGP to ensure that PAC exco-members comprising chairmen, secretaries and PROs of the trade associations and artisans, and the chief security  officers (CSOs) of public and private establishments enjoy adequate cooperation from the police force.

Sect seeks release of 50 members’ bodies for burial

Members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) yesterday urged the police to, as a matter of urgency, release the bodies of “over 50 members” of the sect killed during Monday’s clash between them and the police at Tamburawa village in Kano.
They said the immediate release of the bodies would offer them the opportunity to give them a befitting burial in accordance with Islamic rites.
The Shiite members threatened to institute legal action against the police over what they described as gruesome murder of their members, while on a peaceful procession.
The sect’s local leader in Kano, Alhaji Sanusi Abdulkadir Koki, who spoke to reporters yesterday, said apart from the colossal damages to members’ properties and loss of lives, the sect was yet to understand why policemen being paid with the tax-payers’ money would “molest and kill” the same citizens.
He vowed that no amount of persecution or attack from the police or any organ of the security operatives would prevent or force them from worshipping in accordance with the doctrine they believe in.
Koki disputed the figure of casualties from the clash as presented by the police.
He said: “It was far from been true the purported figure released that they killed when they attacked us on our trekking journey to Zaria. The figure is above 50 people; because as at now, some of our members were still missing.
“When the police saw the numbers of our members, who were killed and deposited at the mortuary, they went back in the night to remove some to undisclosed places so as not be able to categorically say the number killed.
“It was worrisome, saddened and pathetic that the police can go to that extent of killing innocent people, who were observing their right of freedom of religion, without causing any havoc or confronting anybody.”

THE Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, has justified the approach taken by his men when they clashed with members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) (a.k.a Shi’ites) on Kano-Zaria road on Monday.
In a chat with State House correspondents after the launch of the 2017 Armed Forces Emblem Fund at the Presidential Villa yesterday, Idris said policemen were deployed to the site of the crisis to maintain law and order.
He said the Shi’ite attacked his officers, killed one of them and one sustained an arrow wound on his head.
The IGP added that in such a situation, police have the responsibility to ensure free movement of people on the road.
“And that was what our officers did,” Idris said.
Eight members of the Shi’ites and one policeman were reportedly killed during the clash.
Idris words: “Obviously, from time to time, we have been experiencing upheavals from this set of people. As police officers, we have responsibility to ensure there is law and order and when you have people taking over the whole country, dominating streets and buildings, we have to come in to maintain sanity in those areas.
“As of early yesterday, we got information that they were trying to block Kano-Zaria road. They later assembled in large numbers and our officers were deployed to the place to ensure freedom of movement of ordinary Nigerians.
“They attacked our officers, killed one of our officers. One sustained an arrow wound on his head and obviously in such a situation, police have the responsibility to ensure free movement of people on the road. And that was what our officers did.”
On the fear that if the trend is not checked, the group would become like Boko Haram, he said: “Obviously, it is. Whether now or whenever, as police officers, we have a responsibility to ensure there is law and order in any part of this country and to ensure that no organisation or individual should constitute themselves into a government, block passages and buildings.”
On whether it was not wrong to unnecessarily kill any Nigerian in the process of quelling riot, he said: “I agree with what you said. But when you have Nigerians armed to the teeth, killing police officers, I don’t think it happens anywhere. I think as Nigerians, we have to appreciate a dangerous situation, and to be sympathetic with the police that are being killed by some of these miscreants.”
According to him, it was wrong to worship on the highway or block the road under any guise.
He said: “What happens is that there is nothing like freedom there. When you worship, you go to mosques or churches. Blocking highways and passages doesn’t constitute part of worship.
“My message to Nigerians is that all of us should be our brother’s keepers. We should appreciate the feeling of others that where your right ends, another person’s right begins.
“Every Nigerian has a right that must be protected. We should ensure we protect the rights of every individual: right of freedom, right of association and right of movement.”