Wednesday, November 28, 2012

‘Police can curb terrorism in Nigeria’



THE  Commissioner of Police,  Niger State Police Command, Mrs Desire D. Nsirim, has assured of constant and regular training and re-training of officers and men in  her command with the view  to counter the present security and terrorism challenges in the state.
Mrs Nsirim gave the assurance at the graduation ceremony of  a 3-week training programme on combat operation readiness for trainees at the parade ground of 12 Police Mobile Force,  Minna, the state capital.
 She commended the graduands on their dedication to the tenets of the Nigeria Police, promising that they would be posted to where their services would be needed rather than being rendered redundant through irregular postings.
Earlier in his welcome address, the Commander, Counter Terrorism Unit, Base 12, Minna, Superintendent  of Police, (SP),Yakubu Emmanuel Yakubu, noted that a total number of 103 trainees participated in the exercise, including 18 Inspectors, 22 Sergeants, 46 Corporals and 17 Constables, drawn from the four Area Commands of Minna Metro, Bida, Kontagora and Suleja.
Yakubu E. Yakubu explained that the training exercise, jointly organized by Counter Terrorism Unit  and Police Mobile Force, tagged,” Combat Operations Training,” was aimed at preparing the officers and men of the police, whenever they were  faced with any security challenges, especially, the menace of the dreaded "Boko Haram sect" members.
“Need I say we are in the threshold of history as a nation. We hear of one terrorist activity or the other, thereby eroding the confidence of the people in the police. The impression is, we lack the capacity to contain the situation. To my mind, the reason is, we seem naive, timid and above all, apathetic. Hence, the trainees were exposed to core areas of how best to face the challenges of the history and evolution of AK-47 rifles and its parts, as well as safety rules of the AK-47 rifle.
“Stripling and assembling of AK-47 rifle, hitherto the exclusive preserve of armourers, mindset/ tactical awareness, body positioning/ aiming of rifle, cordon and search and road blocks.”
According to him, human rights laws and many others, including physical and health exercise were included, not forgetting the core values of parade drill exercise.
“Terrorism has taken a centre stage in our value system. Our police men and police stations have become soft targets to these hoodlums, oftentimes, resulting in loss of lives of our dear policemen, loss of arms, and in extreme cases, setting police stations ablaze, resulting in loss of relevant crime documents.
“Our places of worship and places of relaxation are not spared. Virtually, everybody is kept in fear of this dare devilry. The annoying thing is that such atrocities were committed without any challenges by the police. Today, I can beat my chest, without any iota of fear or doubt, that we are battle ready to ward off any form of insurrection.”

Tribune

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