The Nigeria Police recently in Lagos organised a three-day retreat for its senior officers to reposition the force for the task of modern day protection of life and property. Its theme was “Repositioning the Force for the Challenges of Effective Policing in the 21st Century.”
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo who witnessed the opening ceremony stated that 2,348 robbery suspects, 1,112 suspected kidnappers, 684 murder suspects and 1,543 suspected cultists were arrested in the last 10 months: The Federal Government is ready to assist the Nigeria Police in providing operational vehicles.
“Government appreciates the police for working hard to make sure lives and properties are protected. Police have done well in fighting crime and criminality.”
The Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mohammed Adamu, emphasised the need to re-orient the police towards serving the people with diligence and care: “The police under my command will undergo training and retraining by imbibing community policing and professionalism.
“The image of the police must improve. Policemen will soon be engaging directly with the people at the grassroots with the introduction of community policing.”
Lectures delivered included “The Technology Roadmap for Achieving Predictive Policing to the Nigeria Police Force” by Adef Amoo; “Operationalizing Intelligence Policing” by Dr Charles Amole; “Law Enforcement and Human Rights in Nigeria” by Prof Innocent Chukwuma; “Effective Communication as a Tool for Managing Security Challenges in Nigeria” by John Momoh and “Crime Data Analytics and Predictive Policing” by Ross Alabo-George.
Others were “The Role of the Police in Enforcement of Tax Laws in Nigeria” by Babatunde Fowler; “Protecting Critical Oil, and Gas Facilities, the Role of the Nigeria Police Force” by Ernest Azudialu-Obiejesi and “Community Policing: The Place of Intelligence Gathering” by Prof Etannibi Alenika.
The retreat was rounded up with a dinner/award party. In attendance were Governors Babjide Sanwo-Olu, Lagos State; Godwin Obaseki, Edo State and Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State.
They were presented with awards for their efforts at improving security situation in their states and given operational vehicles to the police.
The Dangote Foundation was also given an award for providing operational vehicles to the police.
Mr Shina Philip, Managing Director, Matchmakers Consult, organizers of the event thanked the IGP for using the retreat to improve the image of the force and allowing all the commissioners of police to improve their skills and imbibe the community policing and professionalism