Attack on Police very serious crime – Ex-IGP Idris

In the face of incessant attacks on police personnel and formations, especially in the Eastern part of the country, Ex Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris has stated that attack on the police is a very serious crime, insisting that culprits must be made to face the law.

Speaking with journalists at his Abuja residence, the former IGP stressed that attacks on uniformed men can dampen the morale of officers, a situation he said can reduce their productivity.

According to Idris, attacks on the police who are saddled with the responsibility to protect the people is very dangerous to the lives and safety of the citizens, noting that the government must begin to study and uncover the reasons for such attacks, work out a lasting solution to the upsurge before it escalates beyond control.

The ex-IGP further observed that for the police to adequately tackle insecurity in the country, there is need for recruitment of more officers and men into the force.

‘‘Some of the challenges with the police force is the lack of personnel.

‘‘The strength of the police compared to the Nigerian population, obviously, we are overstretched.

‘‘Taking a look at the population of the country, the police are overstretched presently, we need to do something to increase the police for them to adequately tackle the insecurity in the government.

Idris underlined that the establishment of state police, as advocated in some quarters is not the solution to the country's complex security questions, adding that such will amount to creating more problems. 

He reiterated that attention should rather be paid to increasing the number of police officers in the country to commensurate with the growing population. 

He enlisted adequate training, improvement in welfare of officers and men of the force and provision of modern tools as immediate steps the government must urgently take to put insecurity under check. 

"In tackling insecurity in this country, we faced the same challenge during our time, of course you had to look at the issue of recruitment, training of men. 

"You have to train people to tackle the situation. Presently, a lot of them have left the service. I don’t know what is on ground but we need more policemen. In addition to this is the issue of equipment. You have to provide the needed equipment to enable them tackle this insecurity" he said. 

He also underlined the role of women police officers in tackling banditry in the country, same way the military recently deployed female officers to the dreaded Abuja-Kaduna expressway, a situation generally believed to have improved security in the axis.