Police cannot stop armed robbery - Onovo

Written by Daily Trust Wednesday, 10 March 2010 13:43

The Nigeria police force cannot curb the rising cases of armed robbery in the country because officers and men of the force lack the basic training and necessary equipment to tackle the menace, Inspector General of Police Ogbonna Onovo has said.

Speaking when he appeared before the Senate Ad-Hoc Committee investigating the failure of the Nigeria police to protect the lives and property of Nigerians at the National Assembly yesterday, Onovo said his men face an enemy that possesses sophisticated weapons.

The IGP said most robbers were attacking Nigerians on the highways with sophisticated machine guns and other advance weapons.

In the course of ensuring the security of lives and properties in Nigeria, “the Police is paid N7000. To glorify our efforts, it was increased to N21000. I make bold to say that no family in Nigeria can survive on this for a month. We are saying N21000 for somebody who is going to die, where will the morale come from?”

“We do not have enough communication gadgets to track our operations and monitor the roads, vehicles for patrol is not enough, and even where we have the vehicles what about fuelling because there have been times that those vehicles cannot go out because of fuel,” he said.

Committee chairman Senator Patrick Osakwe (PDP, Delta) said the Senate will monitor the N5 billion appropriated by the National Assembly for the purchase of communication equipment for the police to ensure full implementation.