Senate to Consider Direct Funding of Police

By John Shiklam in Kaduna

The  Senate is to consider direct funding of the Nigerian police to enable it confront the security challenges facing the country squarely.

Chairman, Senate Committee on Police Affairs, Senator Abu Ibrahim stated this yesterday during an assessment tour of the special team  deployment along the Kaduna-Abuja Expressway to combat the menace of kidnapping.

Ibrahim who was conducted round the  operational locations of the  police along the Kaduna-Abuja highway to  check the activities of the bandits  by the Kaduna State commissioner  of Police, Mr. Agyole Abeh, lamented the lack of poor  funding of police operations.

He urged the  police authorities to deploy their men to the forest to flush out the criminals from their hideouts.

Ibrahim promised that his committee would  push for a bill that will ensure that at least one per cent of the federal allocation is set aside for security operations by the police.

He stressed that a situation where the police use funds meant for purchasing of equipment and welfare of its personnel for special operations was unfortunate unacceptable.

Addressing policemen manning the highway at  Katari Divisional Police Headquarters, an  operational base of police operations tagged “Operation Absolute Sanity,” Ibrahim  said, welfare  of police personnel would  be discussed in the upper chamber when it resumes from recess.

He also disclosed that his committee will soon embark on a  tour of Nassarawa, Kano, Kaduna, Niger, Kogi, Zamfara and Katsina States to solicit for the commitments of the governors  to support  security operations around their state with funds.

Speaking earlier, the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Agyole Abeh said, members of the special forces deployed on Kaduna-Abuja highway were  the best brains in the police force, having  undergone  series of trainings

He assured that with  proper equipment and welfare, they will not only comb the forests, but  will equally rid Kaduna-Abuja highway of kidnappers.

According to the police commissioner, some villages along the high way used to be a haven  for the kidnappers and armed robbers  who have since been flushed out by the police.

Agyole explained that the  tactics of the kidnappers was  to empower some villagers with motor bikes and mobile phones to serve as their informants.

“While the kidnappers are in the forest, these informants ride bikes down to the forest to give them information on the movement of security personnel. Also, when a vehicle breaks down on the road, the informants quickly alerts  them to come and kidnap the passengers.

“The kidnappers often use  mobile phones collected from their victims. They also travel very far from the crime spot and their camps to contact the victims’ relatives on phone. This is is making it difficult for us to easily track them down. But, even with this, we have arrested a large number of them” he said.