What Nigerians need to consider before criticising police performance – IGP

The Inspector-General of Police, Usman Alkali, has said that when criticising the performance of the Nigeria Police there is need to consider what provisions have been made to create an enabling environment for the security agency.

Mr Alkali said this in Akwa Ibom State on Wednesday at the inauguration of a new operational base of the special protection unit of the police donated by the Akwa Ibom State Government.

The facility, Special Protection Unit Base 27, is located in Awa-Iman, Onna Local Government Area, Akwa Ibom State.

“It is often easy to stand behind the glass house, or stay in our comfort zones to criticise the Nigeria Police,” Mr Alkali said in his remarks. “The question we need to ask ourselves at this stage in our nation’s evolution is ‘what have we contributed towards adding value to our policing and security of the people?’”

The police boss said he holds the conviction that the efficiency of the police could truly be questioned “only when leaderships at all levels of governance in this country play their supportive roles in relation to the advancement of our internal security interests through the provision of (an) enabling environment for the Police”.

The police and other security agencies in Nigeria have remained in the spotlight, as the security situation in the country continues to deteriorate, with indiscriminate killings by non-state actors and abduction-for-ransom soaring in the different parts of the country.

The police themselves have been the target of deadly attacks mainly in the South-east by armed men who are alleged to be part of the Biafra agitation.

Praise for Governor Emmanuel

Mr Alkali said such a police facility was the second to be inaugurated so far in the country under his leadership. The first, SPU Base 6, built by the Rivers State Government, was inaugurated in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, on September 27, 2021, he said.

He said the facility would boost security in Akwa Ibom and Nigeria in several ways.

“It is a legacy project which demonstrates the commitment of Governor Udom Emmanuel to the security well-being of the good people of Akwa Ibom,” the police IG said.

He said Mr Emmanuel, through the project, has “given a clear and loud effect to Chapter 2, Section 14 (2b) of the Nigerian Constitution which stipulates that ‘the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government’”.

Mr Alkali said for the immediate take-off of the facility, he has approved the deployment of a commanding officer, the second-in-command, and other key officers to it, as well as a vehicle and firearms.

Governor Emmanuel, in his remarks, said the facility is a bold statement that his administration is working in partnership with the security agencies in the state.

“We don’t just want to sit back and ask ‘what can the security agencies do for us’.

“As a people, as a government, as a state, we make a bold move to make a statement that this is one state that at each point in time we demonstrate that we are in collaboration, we are in partnership, and that we are in common purpose and common goal with all the security agencies serving in this state,” the governor said.