Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq on Wednesday hosted the inspector general of police Usman Baba at the presidential lodge in Ilorin where he called for increased presence of policemen and other security officials in the state.
“Our challenges are enormous. Being a relatively safe state, security agencies tend to be comfortable with Kwara and that explains why they often take out forces from Kwara to bolster security elsewhere,” he said.
“For example, the Army has taken out most of their men to Northeast and we are making efforts to get them back. For the police, our need requirement is about 8,000-10,000 men but we have only about 3,000 now. Many officers of the two mobile squadrons here have been moved out. I am saying this because we definitely need more men on ground here.”
Mr AbdulRazaq said the recent ban on grazing by southern governors and “some security issues in our neighbouring states have resulted in influx of internally displaced persons to Kwara.”
He also called for improved collaboration among security agencies to sustain relative peace in the state, with the traditional rulers equally playing vital roles in strengthening security architecture.
“There is no chance for criminalities in the state because of the nature of security architecture in the state. We also involve and encourage our traditional rulers to work with the security agencies by providing actionable intelligence for use,” he said.
IGP Baba said he was in Kwara to meet with officers and men of the Nigeria Police in Kwara Command and inspect the Nigeria Police Intelligence School which is under construction in Share, Ifelodun Local Government Area.
“I am here on a one-day visit to appreciate and give words of encouragement to our officers and men in Kwara, as well as tell them what my administration has come to do,” he said.
“The government of President Muhammadu Buhari is doing its best efforts to meet our needs. The police reform is also being pursued. Our pension, which is one of the bane of retired police officers, is also being looked at. We have one of our most important institutions in Kwara which is our intelligence school which ought to have taken up since in Share (Ifelodun local government). My mission is to get it take off immediately.”
He said his administration is adopting intelligence gathering and ICT to check crimes and criminalities in the country.
The police boss was accompanied on the visit by assistant inspector general of police, Zone 8, Ede Ayuba; assistant inspector general of police on intelligence, Abu Sanni; Kwara police commissioner, Tuesday Assayomo; and Force PRO Frank Mba.
