The Inspector-General of Police, IGP Olatunji Disu, has charged trainers and instructors of the Police Mobile Force (PMF) to ensure that personnel remain operationally ready to confront Nigeria’s evolving security challenges.
Disu gave the charge while formally opening the Training Course for Trainers and Instructors of the PMF at the Police Mobile Force Training College, Ende-Hills, Nasarawa State.
The course brings together selected PMF trainers and instructors from across the country and is designed to strengthen instructional capacity, sharpen tactical competence and enhance the operational readiness of the Force’s 84 PMF Squadrons nationwide.
Describing the programme as a strategic intervention in the operational future of the PMF, Disu said the changing security environment required the Nigeria Police Force to continuously learn, adapt and improve.
“This is not just another training programme. It is a strategic intervention in the operational future of the Police Mobile Force and, by extension, the operational capacity of the Nigeria Police Force,” he said.
He noted that Nigeria was facing increasingly complex security threats, including armed criminality, terrorism, banditry, communal violence, violent public disorder, attacks on critical infrastructure and other forms of organised violence.
According to him, the PMF, as the tactical response arm of the Force, must be capable of transitioning rapidly from routine policing support to high-intensity operations whenever serious threats arise.
Disu said the expansion of the PMF to 84 squadrons nationwide placed greater responsibility on the Force to ensure that every squadron was properly trained, led, equipped and operationally ready.
“Our responsibility is to ensure that every Squadron is properly trained, properly led, properly equipped and operationally ready. That is where you, the trainers, come in,” he said.
The IGP urged participants to see themselves as force multipliers, stressing that the knowledge and skills acquired during the course must be effectively transferred to personnel in their respective formations.
“You are being trained to improve others. What you learn here must not remain here. You must take it back to your personnel. You must teach it. You must demonstrate it. You must test it. You must refine it,” he said.
He also cautioned participants against treating the programme merely as an avenue to obtain certificates, urging them to focus on acquiring practical competence that would translate into improved operational performance.
“Do not attend these sessions merely to acquire certificates. Come here to acquire competence,” Disu said.
The IGP further outlined his vision of a modern PMF that combines tactical strength with intelligence, precision, discipline, professionalism and respect for the law.
“The modern Police Mobile Force must be more than strong; it must be smart,” he said, stressing that tactical capability must be matched by professionalism, legality and respect for human dignity.
He emphasised that operational readiness must become a continuous culture rather than a response activated only during crises.
“Our personnel must train for the situations they are likely to encounter before they encounter them in the field,” he said.
Disu said the ongoing reform and repositioning of the PMF was aimed at building a better-trained, better-equipped, professional and responsive Force capable of meeting the nation’s security demands.
He, however, stressed that equipment, structures and numbers alone could not transform the Force, noting that the quality of personnel and the training they receive remain critical to institutional effectiveness.
“People make institutions better. And the quality of our personnel will ultimately depend on the quality of the training we give them,” he said.
The IGP charged the trainers to set high standards, identify deficiencies and correct weaknesses rather than allow mediocrity to become institutionalised.
“I want you to return to your Squadrons with one clear objective: to produce better officers than the ones you met. That is the true measure of a trainer,” he said.
Disu assured participants that the leadership of the Nigeria Police Force would continue to prioritise professional training, modernisation, welfare and the provision of necessary tools to enhance operational effectiveness.
Also speaking, the AIG in charge of the Police Mobile Force, Alonyenu Idu, commended the IGP’s leadership and commitment to repositioning the PMF, saying the training had further charged personnel to uphold the operational reputation of the Force’s tactical arm.
The Executive Governor of Nasarawa State, Mr. Abdullahi A. Sule, who was briefly present at the ceremony, also congratulated the IGP on his leadership and efforts to strengthen the Nigeria Police Force.
The IGP formally declared the training course open and urged participants to return to their respective formations committed to multiplying the knowledge acquired.
