Categories: AFRICA

Nigeria Police Launch Grand Offensive Against Criminals Nationwide

Nigeria’s Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Usman Baba, at the weekend, ordered the deployment of watertight security arrangements to cover all schools, hospitals, health workers, and critical national infrastructure across the country. This was contained in a statement signed by Force Public Relations Officer, Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP) Olumuyiwa Adejobi.

Baba also ordered regular patrols, stop-and-search, raids, and show of force by tactical commanders to clamp down on crime and criminality in the country.

The IGP directed Assistant Inspectors-General of Police and the 36 police commissioners in the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to prioritise the use of intelligence gathering networks, particularly traditional/local intelligence, to locate criminal hideouts and flush them out before they could strike.

This, as National Vice Chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr. Salihu Lukman, said members of the ruling party were as aggrieved as other Nigerians over the alarming rate of insecurity in the country.

A statement by Force Headquarters said the IGP gave the directive while reviewing the general security situation in Nigeria following reports from commands and formations across the country.

The statement said, “He has equally charged all officers and men to be on the offensive, and take the fight against crime to the doorposts of suspected criminal elements, including bushes and uncompleted buildings, profile them, and charge those found wanting to court accordingly.

“Against the backdrop of this development, Nigerians are hereby urged to cooperate with the police, as many police operatives will be seen at strategic areas, routes and communities, in order to suppress the antics and criminal activities of men of the underworld.”

The IGP also warned officers and men of the Nigeria Police to be civil, professional and humane in the course of their duties.

It said, “The Inspector-General of Police, therefore, reiterated his commitment to the protection of lives and property of well-meaning members of the public by decimating the activities of rogue criminal elements, particularly, those who target schools, hospitals, and other critical national infrastructure, in a bid to strike fear into the hearts of good citizens in the country.

“He has similarly charged police officers to protect with courage and serve with compassion in line with his administration’s policing theme.”

Lukman: We’re as Aggrieved as Other Nigerians

National Vice Chairman of the APC, Dr. Salihu Lukman, said members of the ruling party were as hurt as other Nigerians over the frightening spate of insecurity in the country.

Lukman said until the federal government introduced a no-work, no-pay policy, members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) would continue to hold the country to ransom with incessant strikes.

Lukman spoke on Sunday in Abuja during a media interaction with some journalists. He stressed that as a party aspiring to continue to govern Nigeria, APC needed to address the challenges plaguing the Muhammadu Buhari administration.

The party chieftain, however, cautioned against politicising the security challenges facing the country, saying it is untrue that APC politicised the issue of security to get into power prior to the 2015 elections.

Lukman stated, “People wrongly said we used the same approach in 2014/15 against (Goodluck) Jonathan, it is not true. 2014/2015, Jonathan and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) were completely in denial about those security challenges.

“If you remember when the Chibok thing happened, there was a delegation from Borno, led by the governor himself, Kashim Shettima, then he was a sitting governor. What was the response of Patient Jonathan? Kashim had to shed tears publicly.

“Nobody is saying, for instance, what happened to the railway between Kaduna and Abuja didn’t happen, nobody’s saying that attack on Kuje prison didn’t happen.

“If anything, we are as aggrieved as any other Nigerians. I come from Kaduna, I hardly spend two weeks without going to Kaduna, I could have been on that train. It doesn’t matter whether I’m in APC or PDP. I mean, it is the same security challenge we all face.

“I want this government to address the security challenge immediately because I don’t know whether it will consume me. This is the reason why we don’t need to politicise it. So as far as I’m concerned, we must prepare the campaign in such a way that there are answers to these challenges, which Nigerians can see and can commit themselves to.”

Lukman pointed out that there was need for the federal government to invest in education, adding that investment in public education is a necessity that should be taken for granted.

THISDAY