The Acting Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Mohammed Abubakar has said that the regular assault riffles being used by the force will soon be replaced with rubber bullets to fight crime.
Abubakar, who stated this during stakeholders meeting with representatives of various strata of the society including religious groups at the Police Zone 6 Command headquarters in Calabar, Cross River State, Thursday, also said the police and other security agencies will continue to work hard to arrest the activities of terrorist groups and other criminal elements in the country.
The IGP in the meeting attended by representatives of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Muslim communities, the business community and youth groups from Cross River, Rivers, Akwa-Ibom and Ebonyi states, said in order to make the police people friendly, it was imperative to introduce reforms that are in line with developments of the 21st century.
Abubakar said the proposed measure of using withdrawing assault rifles from roads and use of rubber bullets to fight crime was in line with world-best-practices, adding that the ban on road blocks across the country would continue all through his tenure.
“Very soon, the use of assault rifles will be off the roads. We would now be using rubber bullets if we are to fight crime and this is meant to disable criminals. The Police and the environment where they work should be people-friendly and Nigerians should feel comfortable when they approach a policeman or walk into the station.
“Road blocks are gone for good and what we will have now are patrol teams. The mounting of road blocks did a lot of damage to the image of the country and we must correct that. Road blocks had always been when armed robbers and kidnappers were operating freely and will be bribing them. This is the only country in the world where police mount check points using heavy drums and woods among others to block the road,” he said.
Abubakar also said that the Police had recently unveiled an Information and Communication Technology centre in Abuja manned by 15 assistant inspector-generals that will be monitoring activities through cameras in major cities including Abuja, Lagos and Kaduna.
While stressing, however, that crime fighting could not be completely erased from the society, Abubakar said the Nigeria Police will continue to do all within its limit to reduce crime to the barest minimum.
He urged members of the public to always divulge sensitise information to the Police in order to nip the activities of criminals at the bud.
The acting IGP also said that reforming the Force had already commenced with the retraining of 20, 000 officers and men, pointing out that those identified as dead-wood would be shown the way out.
“The intention of the present administration in the Police is to build a Force that will protect Nigeria, provide safety her citizens and guaranty the unity of the country. I want to have the police that will not harass the citizens, a force that Nigeria will be proud of in the 21st century,” he said.
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The withdrawal of assault rifles with live bullets is long overdue. Nigeria is not a war zone.
ReplyDeleteUnscrupulous Police Officers use these guns to kill or seriouly wound other Nigerians. There are also incidents of the sale of guns and bullets to armed robbers.
Corruption at Police checkpoint is the next problem to tackle. No basket for rotten mango.
"adding that the ban on road blocks across the country would continue all through his tenure". Why just his tenure? This is why we always get it wrong. Obama rightly said on his visit to Ghana that "what Africa needs is not good leaders but good institutions". Governance in Nigeria lacks any form of continuity. The IG of police should be looking to establish structures and make policies that will stand the test of time, not just thinking about his tenure. I couldn't help but notice his use of the term "present administration" like the politicians are used to saying.
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