By Uju Mbanusi

The Anti-Bomb Unit of the Nigerian Police Force recently graduated 121 officers who completed the basic courses that qualified them as Anti-Bomb Technicians and Investigators at the Traffic Training Wing of the Police College Ikeja – Lagos.

In a speech delivered at the event, the Inspector General of Police Muhammed Dinko Abubakar, who was represented by the Commissioner of Police Explosive Ordinance Disposal (Anti-Bomb) Command Abdulmajid Ali; stated that the training programme which commenced on May 2, 2013, was borne out of the vision, mission and aspiration to combat headlong, the challenges of terrorism and armed insurgency that plagued the nation.  He added that the Police Force will not rest on its oars until it haas trained  enough officers to meet the demand that security challenges posed to Nigerians.

The IG further stated that the Command has embarked on a nationwide bomb threats sensitize campaign to designated areas like motor parks, markets, institutions and village squares across the country; in order to fully equip the citizenry about the knowledge of what constitutes bomb threats and also enable them identify basic IEDs components when ever they come across such with particular attention to gifts and invitation cards received during the yuletide.

Addressing news men at the event, the Commissioner of Police Anti-Bomb Command Abdulmajid Ali said that the training program have been very effective. “We trained them to enhance their IED incident techniques and also to see their response and  capabilities to explosive tests, as well as to improve their knowledge on how to counter such problems when called upon”.

Speaking on the challenges the programme is faced with, the CP said: “We have our challenges, I am sure you are aware of the incident at Kaduna where a Police Inspector was killed”.

“The Command was short of man-power  that was why the Inspector General of Police authorized that we should recruit more. He gave us the task of recruiting 1000 officers, to cover the nation all over, so far we’v gotten 250, we would continue such trainings. They are Police men already, not that we are recruiting them newly, we intend to go on with such trainings”.