Abubakarsaid on Friday in Port Harcourt at a stakeholders meeting, that the training was necessary to equip the personnel with modern skills to enable them contain emerging security challenges in the country.
The IG said the training was part of the reform programme of the police service, which was meant to evolve a highly proficient and efficient police force, that is people friendly.
He said the training would be conducted in batches, with the first set of 20,000 policemen, to be followed by 15, 000 and 10, 000 personnel in the second and third batch, respectively.
The IG acknowledged that the police training institutions across the country were in bad shape, with the trainees sleeping on bare floor.
He noted that it was difficult under such deplorable condition, for the trainees to assimilate properly what they were being taught.
Abubakar pledged that the institutions would be transformed to meet up the challenges of modern police training.
On police performance, the IG said there was no basis to compare the performance of British police and Nigerian police, arguing that the policemen in Britain were better paid, motivated and equipped.
Abubakar said in spite of the inadequacies locally, the Nigerian police have always emerged the best in international peace-keeping missions, due to the available equipment at their disposal.
According to him, the era of police brutality and bailing suspects with money are gone, saying: ``we are ready to work for Nigeria and Nigerians. The police are to serve the people and not the other way round,''
He commended Rivers State Police Community Relations Committee for its laudable activities which had helped to bridge communication gap between the police and the public.
Abubakar directed the state commissioner of police to embark on a tour of the state to parley with the ordinary people on security issues affecting their locality.
Media, crucial to ending terrorism in Nigeria
The Minister of Information, Labaran Maku, says the media are being attacked because of the ``crucial and significant’’ role they play in the quest to end acts of terrorism.
Maku made the remark on Friday when he visited the office of Thisday Newspapers to commiserate with the organisation over Thursday’s bomb attack.
The minister said that the current spate of bombings was a passing phase in the history of the country.
``This (the attack) is a passing phase in the history of our nation. When a nation comes under attack, it calls for greater courage, commitment and vigilance by all of us.
``The media are very crucial and significant in the efforts to overcome terrorism. We will continue to work together to ensure the end of this phase.''
Maku described the attack on the newspaper house, which killed two of its staff and the suicide bomber, as ``unprovoked’’ and urged the media not to be deterred.
He said in spite of the attack, the media must develop an attitude against terror both in their editorial policy and the kind of prominence they gave evil men and their activities.
He called for collaboration between the media and security agencies to ensure the safety of lives and property.
It will be recalled that a suicide car bomber forced himself into the premises of Thisday Newspapers office at Jabi District in Abuja on Thursday and rammed into the building, killing himself and two others.
An Amoured Personal Carrier and some men of the police anti-bomb, as well as the rescue team of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and their ambulance were still positioned at the entrance of the office on Friday.
Meanwhile, security has been beefed up in and around major media organisations in Abuja, following the attack.
No comments:
Post a Comment