Senate Committee urges FG to empower Nigerian Police

The Senate Committee on Air Force is urging the Federal Government to empower the Nigerian Police to tackle insecurity in the country.

Chairman of the Committee, Sen. Bala Ibn Na’Allah, made the call while presenting the budget report of his committee to the appropriation committee.

He said that the police have as much right to get sophisticated equipment as the Air Force, Navy and Army; this would make the police more effective.

“There is nothing that prevents the Nigerian police from getting some of these sophisticated vehicles and doing surveillance on these roads.

“It is unprofessional that they rush to the scene when kidnaps happens and by then kidnappers are gone .Once there is a coordinated effort, the police will report that there is an incidence in such location, and then an aircraft can continue to hover around those people.

“But setbacks are because they cannot be faster than an aircraft. Then while it is hovering, the police should be able to have an idea of where those bandits or kidnappers are and then some helicopter intervention can help,” Na’Allah said.

On the return of bandits to the Kaduna-Abuja high way, in spite of the procurement of Super Tucano fighter jets, Na’Allah said Nigerians should not be hearing the rise of banditry and kidnappings on that route.

“It is an operational issue, it is one thing to have the equipment and another thing to use the equipment for the purpose of facing the challenges that we have.

“Kidnapping and banditry in Nigeria have defied this intervention for a number of reasons. One, it is not that you have an enemy on the other side you are fighting there you can say you can take the fight to his place to finish him. These are things that come intermittently from somewhere.

“The nature and character of a crime to a larger extent will determine the control strategy. I’m of the opinion that this has to do more by empowering the police who are on ground to ensure that these areas are effectively secured.

“We want a secured nation. We will continue to pray that the security agents will do more to ensure this agitations and expectations by Nigerians are met,” Na’Allah said.

Suzan O/NAN