Minister Charges Trust Fund to Equip Police to Tackle Terrorists, Kidnappers

•Lays emphasis on foreign, local training

•FCT command clamps down on vehicles with foreign number plates

Kingsley Nwezeh in Abuja

Minister of  Police Affairs, Ibrahim Geidam, yesterday, charged the Nigerian Police Trust Fund (NPTF) to equip the Nigeria Police with local, foreign and sophisticated professional training to enable it  tackle terrorists, kidnappers and other high crimes in the country.

The charge came as the Federal Capital Territory Police Command said it had commenced a clampdown on vehicles with foreign plate numbers which presence in the nation’s capital had caused apprehension and raised fears of a terror plot.

A statement issued by the command said it was committed to improving the overall security of the territory and protection of lives and property of residents.

The minister gave the charge during the official briefing of the two ministers in the ministry on the activities of the Nigeria Police Trust Fund (NPTF) by the Executive Secretary of the fund in Abuja.

Reacting to funding issues on the professional training for police personnel outside the country, he urged NPTF to ensure that the process of training officers was strictly managed within the available funds rather than jettison necessary training for police personnel.

“Instead of waiting to send 20 personnel abroad, you can send 10  that can be accommodated within available funds rather than jettison crucial professional training abroad that will impact their output to the nation.

“The executive secretary and his team should come up with a strategic plan on sending personnel on training outside the country while continuing to patronise local training available in the country.

“We need to send some of our personnel outside Nigeria to get highly sophisticated training that would enable them to tackle crimes in the country,” he said.

The minister recalled the problem of Boko Haram that started in Borno State in 2009 before it spread to Yobe State in 2011, when he was the governor, noting that it was not easy then despite the collaboration of both policemen and the military and the need for well-trained personnel that would deal decisively with terrorists and kidnappers.

Speaking, too, the Minister of State for Police Affairs, Imaan Sulaima-Ibrahim, stated that in perfecting statecraft international norms and best practices would be deployed in training and retraining operations, standardised infrastructure, updated work tools to strengthen the professionalism of security personnel.

“It has to be standardised and tailored towards what will work for the police ecosystem and our population. It should not be about procurement alone but strategy planning that will focus on professionalism, patriotism, and transparency because our sector is one of the priority plans of Mr. President and it is critical to the national security of the country,” he said.

Earlier, the Executive Secretary, of Nigeria Police Trust Fund (NPTF), Abdullahi Bala, pointed out that all the training programmes had been successfully executed and for the construction and rehabilitation of police offices and barracks.

He said 109 projects were completed while 30 projects were near completion (70-90 percent). He said 28 other projects were still on-going at 01-69 per cent.

A statement by the ministry said he enumerated the challenges of his organisation concerning the delay in the take-off of the Nigeria Police Trust Fund activities from June 2019 to May 2020, the delay in annual budget approval for the Nigeria Police Trust Fund, some inconsistencies in the NPTF Act, 2019 such as the commencement date and problems of 0.005% levy and its collection from companies in Nigeria among others.

Meanwhile, the Federal Capital Territory Police Command has said it had commenced a clampdown on vehicles with foreign plate numbers which presence in the nation’s capital had caused apprehension and raised fears of a terror plot.

A statement by spokesperson of the command and Superintendent of Police (SP), Josephine Adeh, said the Commissioner of Police,  CP Haruna Garba, “enjoined residents circulating the voice recording by one Mr. West Robinson making the rounds to discontinue such, as it is creating panic and apprehension in the populace.”

The statement, however, called on “the good people of the territory to be vigilant and take advantage of police emergency lines” and report suspicious movements to the police.