Inspector-general of police (IGP) Alkali Baba Usman has commended the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) for the donation of assorted security equipment and gadgets to the Nigeria Police Force.
The IGP also commended UNMAS for training personnel on Explosive Ordnance Disposal ( EOD ). He said this yesterday during the award of certificates to graduands and handing over ceremony of EOD equipment to Borno State Police Command. He said 24 personnel were chosen for the training but due to the challenges of the exercise eight participants dropped out leaving the 16 of them that are awarded certificates.
Represented by the commissioner of police EOD, Zanna Shettima , the IGP said,” The EOD-Command is a technical Police formation under the Department of Operations, Force Headquarters Abuja. It was established out of necessity in 1976, following the bitter experience associated with the end of the Nigerian Civil War.
“Bombs of various calibres were buried and some exposed in parts of the country, particularly in the South Eastern States, where the war was intense.”
Some of these bombs were detonating accidentally with attendant injury and death to victims.
“It will interest you to know that some areas in Borno State have been successfully cleared of unexploded improvised explosives devices ( IED ) by the Nigeria Police EOD personnel.
“This has caused the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) to return to their ancestral homes. These towns include; Marte, Bama, Kukawa, Baga, Doro-Baga, Maiduguri-Monguno road, Banki, Gamboru-Ngala Town, Dikwa-Marte Road, Malam Fatori, Auno-Jakana road and Maiduguri-Gubio road just to mention a few.”
He said all these achievements would not have been possible without the continuous capacity building of personnel by UNMAS.
In his remarks, the state commissioner of police, CP Abdu Umar, said the programme is one of the best of its kind in Borno State Police Command considering its relevance in the contemporary society where insecurity is rampant everywhere.
He said the value of training the EOD personnel cannot be overemphasized in an environment like Borno, where IEDs is so prevalent, noting that records abound where innocent children picked IEDs ignorantly as playing objects only for it to explode either to maim them or kill them outrightly.
Earlier, the chief of Mine Action Programme ( UNMAS ) in Nigeria, Mr Gilles Delecourt, said, the international community is concerned about the threats posed by planted IEDs in the region, and is poised to mitigate the menace at all cost. He congratulated the beneficiaries and urged them to utilize the knowledge and expertise acquired during the training to save lives.
