Reps recommend special training of 40,000 police personnel to stem insecurity in Nigeria

The House of Representatives has asked the federal government to raise a special team of 40,000 Police Mobile Unit officers to undergo a special training out of which 1,000 of them should be deployed to every state for immediate operations.

It also wants the government to commence development of reserves and ranching in states disposed to it.

These are some of the resolutions taken by the House during plenary on Tuesday, which it said would check the rising insecurity in the country.

The resolutions were part of the 19 recommendations made by a special committee on national security of the House.

The committee chaired by Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila held a three-day summit in May to discuss some of the security challenges facing the country.

The report of the committee, presented by the speaker, was considered clause by clause by the Committee of the Whole.

Part of the report said, the federal government should:

(i) Instruct the immediate enhanced training for the Police Mobile Unit to improve their capacity to deal with insecurity. A special team of 40,000 Police Mobile Unite officers should undergo this special training. 1,000 should then be deployed to every state for immediate operations. North East, South West, South East can receive the officers remaining out of the 40,000

(ii) Create a new team under the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) to train and work with the guards of Nigeria’s forest. This unit will collaborate with the current Forest Guards who will remain under the control of States;

(iii) Encourage the Intelligence Agencies (working with the National Security Adviser and the Chief of Defence Staff) to initiate a screening and vetting program of all frontline officers of the Nigerian military to fish out moles and double-agents who have so far compromised most efforts at combating insecurity and win the war against insurgents and terrorists;

(iv) Strategically, the Executive should initiate a Presidential Police Reform initiative that will be resident in one central place within the Presidency. Also, an operational specialised unit should be established within the NPF to champion and drive all the change initiatives (based on a Presidential Policing Reform Roadmap) from within the institution;

The legislature also asked the government to commence the screening of the military with a view to identifying double agents and moles.

It also called for the creation of zonal development commissions across all the zones.

All 19 resolutions were adopted by the House.

Mr Gbajabiamila said the report would be presented to President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, lawmakers from the South-south zone have protested the classification of Niger Delta as a zone in the report.

Luke Onofiok (PDP, Akwa-Ibom) moved a motion for the removal of Niger Delta Development Commission and included the creation of the South-south Development Commission.

Other regions are to get development commissions, too.