The nation’s police authorities have been told to go the extra mile in their efforts to contain the spreading crimes and criminality in the country.
Security experts, who were reacting to the latest strategies by the police force leadership to escalate its efforts to curtail crime beyond the usual practice of issuing baseless orders and leaking official memos to the press to give the semblance of hard work.
The inspector-general of police, IGP Usman Baba, had ordered the deployment of water-tight security arrangements to cover all schools, hospitals, health workers, and critical national infrastructure around the country.
The IGP equally ordered regular patrols, stop-and-search raids and show of force by tactical commanders to clamp down on pockets of crime and criminality recorded in some states of the federation.
The IGP gave the directive while reviewing the general security situation of the nation via reports from commands and formations across the country.
Force PRO, CSP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, said the IGP had directed strategic police managers at various levels to prioritise the use of intelligence gathering networks, particularly traditional/local intelligence sources, to locate criminal hideouts and flush them out before they strike.
The IGP, he said, had equally urged all officers and men to be on the offensive, and take the fight against crime to the doorposts of suspected criminal elements, including bushes and uncompleted buildings, profile them, and charge those found wanting to courts accordingly.
Insecurity: IGP Orders Watertight Security Around Schools, Hospitals
The IGP also urged Nigerians to cooperate with the Police as many police operatives will be seen at strategic areas, routes and communities, in order to suppress the antics and criminal activities of men of the underworld.
He, however, warned officers and men of the Nigeria Police Force to be civil, professional and humane in the course of discharging their duties.
Meanwhile, security experts have disagreed with the IGP’s watertight order around schools and hospitals following widespread attacks.
While some of the experts were in support of the order, others say the Police were not ready to tackle widespread insecurity.
The managing director, Beacon Consulting, Dr Kabir Adamu, said though he had no issues with the order, he frowned at situations where confidential memos were being leaked.
He added that the IGP made a broad remark without revealing the details of the strategy.
“Where I have issues is when officials leak memos that are confidential or when they announce confidential plans that take away the secrecy element necessary in all security operations,” he said.
A public and private security analyst and trainer, Major Banjo Daniel (rtd) said the continued empty orders shows the lack of commitment to deal with the criminals who are known to the system.
He said if the security agencies were committed, a special operation would have eliminated these threats.
“I don’t believe in those people anymore. It’s like because the guards brigade guys died and they went somewhere and captured some people and killed them. If we were sincere with ourselves,we can do better than this, we know where those people are.
“Conduct special operations, deal with all these people, the military can do it; even the police can do it. If they were ready, it’s just to sit down and make plans on how they are going to bombard that area with the use of some aircraft and then follow up with ground operations but, of course, they are not doing that,” he said.
In his contribution, a clergyman and National Publicity Secretary of Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, PFN, Bishop Gospel Emmah Isong charged the federal government to engage in the use of Hi-tech military equipment to overcome insecurity in the country.
Isong gave the charge yesterday while speaking in a telephone interview with LEADERSHIP correspondent on the way forward with regards to overcoming the security challenges faced by Nigeria
The cleric spoke from Seoul, South Korea, where he is currently attending a leadership conference tagged Summit 2022 alongside 300 world leaders drawn from across 137 nations of the world on how to chart a way forward to achieve world peace.
General Overseer of Christian Central Chapel International CCCI (Faith Mansion), Ikot Ene-Obong 8 Miles, Calabar, Bishop Gospel Emmah Isong, stated that deployment of hi-tech equipment in the fight against insurgency would give troops of the federal government an upper hand in solving the security challenges.
While explaining that the current insecurity in the country is an issue that calls for concern stressing,he said insecurity and poverty are symbiotic.
“Insecurity feeds on poverty, while on the other hand poverty also feeds on insecurity.
“If as a people we failed to take the right step in solving the security challenges, we won’t blame anybody but have ourselves to blame.
“A lot has been said in the conference and more are still going to be said. Whatever is going to be said is going to be instructive and educational.”
The PFN scribe stated that the fight against insecurity and insurgency had reached the stage where those executing the war against enemies of the country no longer have to fight the way conventional wars are fought but have to make use of hi-tech military equipment if they want to subdue the enemy.
Isong said that use of hi-tech military equipment like the use of drones and other sophisticated military hardware are the only way forward to defeat enemies rather than the old and conventional method of executing wars which the clergyman described as being obsolete and no longer effective to defeat the enemies.
Capture Of Owo Church Bombers Commendable –Group
Meanwhile, a group, the Renaissance Initiative, has described as timely, proactive and prayers answered, the decisive onslaught of the Armed Forces of Nigeria against terrorists, bandits and economic vandals across the country.
The group, in a statement yesterday, said the incident is a form of assurance that very soon the country will return to normal, just as he attributed the ongoing successful military operations to the enhanced synergy being promoted by the Defence Headquarters.
The statement signed by the national general secretary, Abdullahi Gombe, said Nigerians are united behind the Armed Forces of Nigeria in their operations against those who want to instill fear in the populace.
According to the Renaissance, “The evil plot is to instill fear in Nigerians and make us take abnormality as a way of life. Indeed, the Armed Forces of Nigeria has continued to let the enemies of the country know that their evil desire for the country is unacceptable.
“On Sunday we heard that Nigerian Air Force aircraft struck at their gathering at Kurebe in Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State and eliminated several terrorists during an important meeting hosted by Aminu Duniya, a Boko Haram terrorist commander.
“In same week, Nigerian Air Force (NAF) killed a terrorist kingpin, Alhaji Shanono, and 17 of his foot soldiers in Kaduna State.
“Similarly, eight suspected terrorists including their gang leader, Abdulkarim Faca-faca, were killed in a raid by NAF in Safana Local Government Area of Katsina State on Saturday.”
It expressed relief that the bombers of Owo Catholic Church had been captured and
commended the renewed vigour against economic saboteurs under the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Leo Irabor and the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Awwal Gambo.
“Recently, authorities of the Nigerian Navy charged 13 Officers and Ratings before a General Court Martial at the Western Naval Command headquarters in Lagos for offences ranging from conniving with crude oil thieves and pipeline vandalism and other Maritime infractions.
“It is important to know that Naval Forces fighting to rid the nation’s maritime domain of criminality have successfully foiled oil thief, illegal oil bunkering, and pipeline vandalism and stealing of crude oil and its products worth over N25 billion since April this year.
“In the Northeast, Theatre Commander, Joint Task Force “Operation Hadin Kai”, Maj. Gen. Christopher Musa, confirmed that the kinetic and non-kinetic strategies adopted by the Nigerian military made 14,609 active out of the 70,593 insurgents to surrender to troops.”
The group urged Nigerians to support the troops.
Police Deployment Will Create Public Confidence – Ex-CP Alobi
Reacting to the tactics of the police, former commissioner of police, FCT, Lawrence Alobi said the inspector-general of police, IGP Usman Baba’s directive on the deployment of water-tight security arrangements to cover all schools, hospitals, health workers, and critical national infrastructure around the country, will create confidence in the minds of citizens when the see that the police had been deployed to secure them.
He said the deployment and announcement will assure the public of safety, knowing that the operatives of the Nigeria police force are all over the street, checking for criminals.
The retired police commissioner also said the measure could be both positive and negative.
Alobi said criminals could also develop another strategy to counter the measures put in place by the police, by evading the points where policemen are stationed.
Meanwhile, the former police commissioner also called for a national policy on security framework, which would define the jobs and duties of all security agencies, noting that everyone has taken up the job of the Nigeria police force.
He said the recently launched national doctrine on crisis management should be anchored on a policy security framework to properly guide the security agencies.
Alobi argued that the police is the lead agency in security management within the country but is not properly funded and this is why it has become difficult for the police to carry out their duties effectively.
On the capacity of the police to handle insecurity, he said if given the necessary welfare, funding, equipment and manpower, the police will do the job well.
