Force Public Relations Officer, CP Frank Mba, said in Abuja on Wednesday that the police were not overwhelmed by insecurity and related issues.
Contributing to discussions at a Roundtable on Internal Security Management, organised by an NGO, Cleen Foundation, Mba said the police were only challenged by the enormous nature of security challenges in the country.
“In all these issues of insecurity, the good news is that we all know the fact that great leaders are churned out in times of crises, challenges and difficulties.
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“The security challenges in the country are huge, but they are certainly not insurmountable and so the police are not overwhelmed.
“Men and women of the Nigeria Police Force have the capacity, the will, the passion, the commitment and the zeal to deliver on their mandates to upturn insecurity and protect lives and properties of Nigerians,’’ he said.
Mba called for the support of governments at all levels and the support of Nigerians for the police to continue to deliver on their mandates.
He appealed to Nigerians to embrace the notion that security was the business of all and if everyone played their part in policing, the country would collectively overcome the challenge of insecurity.
“There is a call to parents and to those in charge of socialisation processes, like community leaders, religious and traditional rulers, the media and school authorities to contribute in mentoring the young ones appropriately.
“Also political leaders should tackle factors that drive crimes such as unemployment, poverty, economic and political exclusion.
“If they deal with these issues, it will be easier for the police, working with the military and other law-enforcement agencies to actually deal with the challenges of insecurity,’’ he stressed.
Retired Maj.-Gen Saleh Maina, in his contribution, tasked government on political will to address the numerous issues of insecurity.
According to him, government has the relevant agencies to surmount insecurity.
“It’s about the political will; cooperation, collaboration and tasking the various agencies and monitoring their performance and addressing whatever problems or challenges they may have along the line.
“If it is strategy-related, government should re-strategies; if it is equipment, it should provide; if its personnel, or training, whatever it is, the government should look into it and provide the missing elements,’’ he said.
He expressed optimism that the issue of insecurity would be completely eradicated in the present administration given the level of commitment that the government had put into tackling insurgence in the Northeast and Northwest.
“I know that the issue of insecurity will not spill into the next government because there have been lots of improvement in the last one year. Insurgency has reduced in the Northeast.
“There have been successes recorded in the Northwest also and the changes in the leadership of the major security outfits are indicators of an end to insecurity,’’ he said.
Mrs Ruth Olofin, Acting Executive Director, Cleen Foundation, urged the government to declare none-state armed groups as terrorist groups because their operations were disrupting the peace and security of the country.
“Government is trying because what we are facing is that there is an erosion of security threats facing Nigeria.
“When government deploys its strategies to face terrorism or terrorists, it also has the separatist groups to tackle and that could be overwhelming.
“Government should declare none-state armed groups as what they truly are as long as they are disrupting the peace and security of the country,’’ she stressed.
Olofin urged government to deploy kinetic steps and operations and even non-kinetic steps to tackle insecurity.
She noted that while government was making efforts, there was room for improvement on intensifying efforts to curtail security threats and protecting Nigerians. (NAN)