Nigeria not ripe for State Police – Osayande

ABUJA – Chairman, Police Service
Commission, Mr. Parry Osayande, has
said Nigeria is not yet politically developed
to allow the decentralization of the
Nigeria Police.
Osayande, in a briefing to Senator Dahiru
Kuta-led Committee on Federal Character
and Inter-Governmental Affairs, also
said past military regimes were responsible
for the dearth of professionalism in the
Police.
He said interferences in the
administration of the police coupled with
poor funding, understaffing and collapse
of police infrastructure during military
regimes had left the Police in a very bad
shape.
He said: “Ideally, we should have state
police, even local government police. But
right now we are not politically mature.
The police, as it today, constitute the tie
that binds Nigeria together. You can
imagine a situation, an itinerant criminal
commits an offence in Lagos and he ran
away to Benin and the government in
Benin is not in the same party with the
government in Lagos, they can even shield
them.
“But once we mature politically, you can
decentralise the police. Right now, we are
not politically mature for that.That is
why we must continue; like we have one
currency, one military then we should
have one police.”
He accused the military of infiltrating
the Nigeria Police with unqualified
personnel through fraudulent
recruitments and promotions, but said the
commission was already on salvage
mission to restore professionalism in the
Police.
The Committee, which was on oversight
tour of the Commission to ensure
adherence to federal character principles
in the recruitment and promotion of
Police personnel directed that details of
recruitment and promotion exercises be
submitted to the Senate by today.
He said: “We want details of the last
recruitment by Monday, how many people
have been recruited and promoted
reflecting the states they come from? We
need to know because we have received
petitions that some states are lording it
over others in terms of recruitment and
promotions.”

Bomb scare in Edo CBN

BENIN—Edo State Police Command
Anti-Bomb Disposal Unit, weekend,
condoned-off Central Bank of Nigeria,
CBN’s premises following alleged presence
of a black polythene bag suspected to
contain a bomb. The action caused panic
at the busy Akpakpava Road as people ran
for their lives.
Motorists were diverted to other routes as
security agents searched frantically with
detectors.
It will be recalled that in August, Boko
Haram, the dreadful Islamic sect, had
threatened to bomb University of Benin
and other universities, which caused panic
in the affected institutions of learning.
When Vanguard visited the scene
Saturday eve-ning, security agents were
still around.
An eyewitness said the content of the
black bag was not revealed to onlookers by
the anti-bomb squad.
Edo State Police Acting Public Relations
Officer, Mr. Ejiriro, declined comment
on the incident.

...Army employs war dogs

The Nigerian Army said it has employed war
dogs to detect narcotics and explosives as well
as locate dead and decomposing human
tissues.
Speaking while declaring open the Nigerian
Army Corps of Military Police training week
in Abuja, the Chief of Army Staff,
Lieutenant-General Onyeabor Azubuike
Ihejirika, also disclosed that the dogs would be
trained for Low Intensity Conflict(LIC), and
military operations to conduct search and
undertake rescue operations, tracking, patrol
and guards duties.
Ihejirika said “the NA war dogs would be
employed in the detection of explosives and
narcotics, urban search and rescue, tracking,
patrol and guard duties and cadaver find
which is locating dead and decomposing
human tissues”.
The setting up of the dog centre according to
the COAS, was to enable the army tackle the
security challenges in the country.
Similarly, Ihejirika, has called for
information sharing and cooperation among
the various security agencies to effectively
curb the incidences of armed robberies,
kidnapping, suicide bombings and other
deadly attacks on Nigerians in some parts of
the country.
Ihejirika, said rather than engage in
unnessary inter service rancour and rivalry,
security agencies should cooperate with one
another, share information and appreciate
their individual roles which he said were inter-
related and inter-dependent.
The army chief while commending the theme
of the training week entitled “Enhancing
inter-agency cooperation for effective
enforcement of law and order”, expressed the
hope that the training week would provide a
veritable platform for participants to interact
and exchange ideas on how to move the corps
forward as well as tackle certain acts of
indiscipline which had become a major
problem amongst some personnel in the army.
He also expressed the hope that renewed call
for inter agency cooperation and new policing
strategies would be developed to effectively and
jointly combat crime and terrorism in the
country.
The army chief while noting that the sucess
of the Nigerian Army in meeting its
constitutional responsibilty of protecting the
nation from external and internal
aggersssion requires inter-agency cooperation
said “the incidences of armed robberies,
kidnapping, suicide bombings and other
deadly attacks on Nigerians in some parts of
the country call for information sharing and
cooperation among the security agencies”.
“We must cooperate with one another, share
information, appreciate our individual roles
that are inter related and inter dependent
and also avoid rancour or rivalry”. He said.
The COAS, who said the authority would
continue to support the Military Police within
the limits of available resources, commended
the progress made so far by the corps
especially in the area of criminal/special
investigation, crime investigation, crime
investigation/control, internal security
operations amongst others, however charged
them to fashion out ways to curtail
indiscipline, illegal activities and other vices
within the Nigerian army and rid the
barracks of all undisireable elements.
He charged the military police personnel to
place more emphasis on proctive policing,
rather than reactive policing through regular
patrols, management of information and
regular training.
He announced that the Military Police dog
section had been designated to a dog platoon
in readiness to the setting up of the Nigerian
Army Dog Centre at Iyana-Ipaja, Lagos,
where the army would be training war dogs for
Low Intensity Conflict(LIC), and military
operations.
Earlier in his address, the Provost Marshall
of the Nigerian Army, Major-General Yusuf
Dangiwa Pyeng, said the dog section now
known as the Army Head Quarters Pro Coy
Dog Platoon, had their trainers and handlers
trained in the United States.