President Muhammadu Buhari Friday in Abuja said the entire structure of
the Nigerian Police Force is being overhauled, re-positioned and primed
with modern technological gadgets to meet rising challenges across the
nation, while an intelligence loop among all security outfits has been
created.
The President, who received traditional rulers from the North led by His
Eminence, Alhaji Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar III at the Presidential Villa,
said the ongoing reform of the police will include recruitment of more
hands, cultivation of stronger local intelligence and networking with
communities, traditional rulers and adequate training.
President Buhari noted that the return of the Ministry of Police Affairs
was purposely to drive the new initiative of ensuring proper provision
of security for lives and property, with proactive intelligence
gathering to nip crimes in the bud before they escalate.
“I have decided to meet with Your Highnesses to assure you that
government is determined to tackle and deal decisively with all security
challenges facing us as a nation.
“This consultation therefore is to engage you, our royal fathers, so
that, collectively, we can arrive at solutions to any and all security
problems in the country.
“We must all play our part to finally address these security challenges,
particularly traditional rulers, in your respective communities, where
you feel the pulse of the people, being the closest to the populace at
the grassroots level,” he said.
President Buhari urged the traditional rulers to provide more support to
security agencies with their versatile knowledge of communities and
individuals.
“These policies and programmes include a robust revamping of police
intelligence gathering capacity and the significant boosting of the
numbers of security personnel in our local communities. This in specific
terms will include recruiting more police officers and doing so whenever
possible from their local government areas, where they would then be
stationed in the best traditions of policing world-wide.
“Working with the State governments also, we intend to improve the
equipping of the police force with advanced technology and equipment
that can facilitate their work. To drive this, I recently created a
full-fledged Ministry of Police Affairs.
“As I said during my meeting with the Traditional Rulers from the
South-West, directives have been issued to the appropriate federal
authorities to speedily approve licensing for States requesting the use
of drones to monitor forests and other criminal hideouts,” he added.
The President said CCTVs will be installed on highways and other
strategic locations so that activities in some hidden places can be
exposed, more effectively monitored and open to actionable
interventions.
In his remark, the Sultan of Sokoto assured the President of the full
support of traditional rulers in the country.
“We have come to assure you of our total support, total commitment and
undiluted dedication to moving the nation forward as one of the best
countries of the world,” the royal father noted.
He said the traditional thrones in various communities predated the
amalgamation of the protectorates, and all the forefathers had always
upheld the virtues of peace, unity and stability, assuring the President
that royal fathers across the country had been in constant communication
on the security challenges, promising to support the government to
succeed.
The Sultan commended Governor Bello Matawalle of Zamfara for the
relative peace in the state after he was sworn into office, and decided
to open up all channels of communication, urging other governors to
adopt same model.
He also called on the President to strengthen the National Drug Law
Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) for more effective monitoring of drug-related
situations in the country for correction and prosecutions.