By Hassan Zaggi
The Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Usman Alkali Baba, has charged senior police officers to deploy intelligence as a tool in tackling the nagging security challenges in the country.
He stated this in a remark to mark the end of the 2nd Nigeria Police Conference and Retreat for Senior Police Officers which held in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.
IGP Baba reiterated that the current internal security challenges bedeviling the country cannot be tackled without the strategic deployment of both human and material assets and intelligence.
The IGP further reiterated the commitment of the Force to restoring its primacy and stabilizing the internal security of Nigeria.
He emphasized the importance of engagement and re-evaluation of critical issues relating to internal security and policing as a key to achieving professionalism.
He equally applauded the government and the people of Akwa Ibom State, and other critical stakeholders for their significant roles and contributions to the success of the conference/retreat.
The retreat was massively attended by 148 senior police officers from the rank of Commissioners upward.
The retreat with the theme – “The New Policing Vision: A Road Map for Stabilizing Internal Security” was declared open by President Muhammadu Buhari. He was represented by the Minister of Police Affairs, Alhaji Mohammed Maigari Dingyadi.
A Communique issued at the of the retreat re-affirmed the Police as the lead agency in internal security while acknowledging the importance of collaboration and synergy with other security agencies.
The communique charged strategic police managers to imbibe a professional orientation aligned to policing framework that encourages inter-agency collaboration rather than rivalry; acknowledged the significant strides of the IGP in the acquisition of critical ICT assets; emphasized the importance of a sound police-public relations as a strategy towards addressing the trust deficit in policing.
The communique also emphasized on intelligence as the brainbox of policing and proposed a legislation that will place an obligation on government agencies, corporate bodies, estate developers and private individuals to install CCTV cameras and security sensors on their facilities as a standard practice amongst others.
