The job of the men of the Nigerian Police (In the North especially) has become challenging in recent times as the Police said yesterday that its men defuse large number of bombs, many of which are Improvised Explosive Devices in Kano, Borno, Yobe and Bauchi states every day. It also decried the unpredictable and intermittent nature of attacks by terrorists, which has made its job even more challenging.
In a telephone interview with our correspondent, the Deputy Force Public Relations Officer, Mr. Frank Mba, also said the police occasionally defused explosives in Plateau State.
He said, “We have pictures of different kinds of explosives we have defused. We defuse explosives every day, particularly in Yobe. Yesterday (last Thursday), we discovered a big paint container filled with IEDs. The voltage of the devices was so high that the devastating impact will be better imagined.
“The same is the case in Kano, Yobe, Borno, Bauchi and, occasionally, Plateau. It is a very risky task to defuse bombs. We take a lot of risks, no matter the level of training and expertise, because as we approach the device, a terrorist may be somewhere with the plan to press a button.”
The Chief Superintendent of Police also said the force did not limit their focus on points of terrorist attacks alone, adding that they had different strategies for different states.
He said, “When it comes to crime fighting, we take every state seriously because every form of crime brews insecurity. We have different policing strategies for different places. We have customised our plans for each of the states.”
While he argued that terrorism was not peculiar to Nigeria, he said, “It is a huge task to tackle a highly organised and violent criminal gang. The issue of security has a highly competitive nature. We have discovered and removed a lot of IEDs from Kano and we are doing everything possible to ensure the safety of lives and properties.”
“We battle with operational exigencies. Sometimes the job is unpredictable. We might have planned to attend to something in Abuja but we would abandon the plan because there is an attack in Kano. Our men have been moving from one point to another.”
He however, argued that the agency was short of personnel in tackling the menace.
He said the police had advised and provided religious leaders with security tips to disseminate to their subjects and worshippers to ensure their safety, warning that discussions on terrorism should be carefully made.
He added, “The police, being the leading security agency in providing internal security, are adopting multifaceted approaches to tackling terrorism. We have massively deployed personnel and hardware in crises points and key areas.”
In a related development, an Improvised Explosive Device on Saturday exploded under a bridge on Makera-Rim road, near Golhoss village in Rim District, Riyom Local Government Area of Plateau.
A statement by the Media Officer of the Special Task Force on Security in Plateau, Capt. Salisu Mustafa, said, “the pillar of the bridge is damaged but the road is still accessible.
“The explosion, which occurred in the early hours of the day, did not injure anyone.’’
Mustafa said that personnel of the STF and the anti-bomb squad promptly arrived at the scene only to discover another IED that had yet to explode, adding that the device was instantly defused
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I Sincerely Commend the Nigerian Police for their efforts. At least we can see that their efforts are yielding results. We have not had much blood shed in recent week. THE POLICE SHOULD ADD TO THEIR SECURITY TIPS, A WARNING TO NYSC HEADQUARTERS TO STOP SENDING CORPS MEMBERS TO CRISIS STATES. This is a very important security tip which has been grossly ommited by our leaders, NYSC Management and the police. Please take note!!!!
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