| IGP Idris |
The Inspector- General of Police, Mr Ibrahim Idris, says the force will establish special tracking units in Lagos and Port-Harcourt to check kidnapping and other crimes.
Idris made this known when he was interacting with civil society
groups and crime reporters in Lagos on Friday.
He noted that kidnapping was becoming more serious than other
crimes in the country.
The IG said that the tracking machine established in Abuja had
helped to resolve about 90 per cent cases of kidnapping with victims rescued
and suspects arrested.
”Already, tracking machines have been deployed to states and
will start functioning in few weeks time, so as to reduce pressure on those in
Abuja.
”This will enhance the police anti-kidnapping drive.
”The machine in Port Harcourt, Rivers will cater for the
South-South and South East zones, while the one deployed to Lagos would focus
on the west,” he said.
The police chief also said that there were plans to reinvigorate
the force forensic laboratories, noting however, that funds constraints were
hindering its implementation.
Idris urged Nigerians to assist the police in tackling armed
crimes, reiterating that the fight against kidnappers was a community fight.
According to him, it is not what the police alone can handle. It
has become a community fight and can only be solved with the help of the
people.
“When I assumed duty, one of the plans we came up with was to
rehabilitate our forensic units. I outlined the challenges of the police and
how to handle them.
”The thing is that we have been having funding challenges.
“We are trying to address it in a holistic manner. Very soon, we
are going to have National Security Summit. Kidnapping seems to be a community problem.
“Over 90 percent of victims have been rescued. I agree that it
is becoming a major challenge. It cuts across the entire country. It has to be
addressed in various forms.
“It is not just the police or security agencies. Take for
instance where the Turkish School students were kidnapped. That school is
situated at the foot of a swamp.
”Despite that parents pay huge amount of money, the school did
not invest much in security.
“So, we are going to use the summit to address these issues as
well as others like the herdsmen and farmers issues.
”These issues are further dividing us as a nation and we need to
solve them.
You cannot have the maximum support of security in an area without the support of the public.
You cannot have the maximum support of security in an area without the support of the public.
”Everybody has one thing or the other to make our society safe,”
Idris said.
He expressed the need for the media and civil society to be
advocates of improved funding for the police through the Police Trust Fund.
“The funding of the police is costly. What we are trying to do
is to pursue 50 percent of our budgetary requirement from other sources.
”We are also looking for other avenues where we can address the
problem of the police.
“At the same time, we are hoping that the National Assembly will
pass the bill establishing Police Trust Fund, by so doing, open up other
sources for the police to generate money.
”It is already happening in Lagos (Security Trust Fund) and has
been working wonderfully.
“We are aware that the Federal Government is financially
constrained and so, we do not think it is right to over burden the system by
creating other agencies.
”These agencies would require funding and create rivalry. But if
more money is available for the police and more people recruited, we can
achieve so much more,” he noted.
Idris also stated that there were plans to professionalise the
police by establishing specialised schools such as Finance, Marine, among
others for training.
He urged civil society organisations to support the police in
training its personnel on professional conducts.
The IG expressed satisfaction at the scorecard of the rebranded
Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS).
“We are working hard to restore the integrity of the police.
Earning the confidence of the people is important to us and we can only achieve
that by changing the attitude of some of our policemen.
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