UK Metropolitan Police Partners Nigeria Police on Training

The Minister of Police Affairs, Alhaji Jelili Adesiyan, yesterday said the United Kingdom’s Metropolitan Police was partnering with men of the Nigeria Police on re-training ahead of the general election.

Adesiyan, who stated this while participating in an interactive session with journalists in Osogbo, said the special collaboration would focus on crowd control before, during and after the elections.

Adesiyan noted: “The Nigeria Police is on the move to full transformation that is aimed at equipping men of the force intellectually and physically.”

He added: “With the Police University in Kano, in the next 10 years, hardly will you find a policeman that will be found wanting academically because education is an important feature of transformation.

“Before this administration, the airway arm of the police was in a comatose state, a situation which has witnessed a dramatic turnaround because, six helicopters have been procured for the division.

“Through this police reform, a helipad is already under construction in Ile-Ife in Osun State; a solid foundation has been laid for transformation of the police,’’ Adesiyan disclosed.”

The minister however disclosed that no fewer than 5,000 operational vehicles were being targeted for the use of men of the police force during the general election.

He said, “In the last weeks, we have started taking delivery of these operational vehicles. As we are receiving these vehicles, we have started allocating them to states.

‘’The police is ready for the elections, and as the Minister of Police, I will not interfere in the modus operandi of our dedicated police officers,’’ Adesiyan stressed.

He disclosed that the police had started an aggressive mop up of illegal arms in the country, warning that perpetrators of violence during the election would have the law to contend with.