By Taiwo Adelu

London, Oct. 30, 2019 (AltAfrica)-The top hierarchy of the Nigerian Police Force have begun a three day retreat described by a top officer as “self re-examination retreat”over the security challenges facing the country

Aside the problem of terrorism in the North-East of the country, kidnapping and banditry have become almost a daily business in every part of the country. These and other security challenges, the police say have been a source of concern to them too

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One of the several efforts put in place by the Police High Command is to constantly train and retrain both the senior and junior police officers, hence the three-day self examination retreat for Senior Police Officers at the Eko Hotels & Suites in Lagos.

The retreat, hosted by the Lagos State Government, started on Monday and ends on Wednesday.

Speaking on Day one of the retreat, the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Mohammed Adamu declared that the Nigeria Police are doing everything possible to ensure that the country is saved.

According to him, the retreat is planned “in furtherance to our policing vision which emphasizes capacity building as a pathway to enhancing effective police service delivery in the country.

“We firmly believe that with the constant engagement of strategic managers and consistent training and retraining of personnel of the Force across all ranks, the expectation of the Federal Government and indeed, the nation at large for a Police Force that is knowledge-driven, rule of law-guided, community-oriented, technology-compliant, and intelligence-led shall be achieved.

“”Through a professional forum of this nature, the personnel of the Nigeria Police shall be expected to acquire a high-level of professionalism and competence required to neutralize any threat to our national security and give meaning to the Constitutional provision that ‘the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government’.

“Gathered here  for this 3-day Retreat and Conference are a collection of all officers occupying strategic leadership positions in the Nigeria Police Force. This comprises of all Commissioners of Police, Assistant Inspectors General of Police, and Deputy Inspectors General of Police, and our mission is twofold.

“Firstly, we intend to utilize this forum to undertake a holistic evaluation of the current internal security threats and crime dynamics in the country, identify factors engendering crimes, and project into the future. This is with a view to identifying human capacity requirements for addressing current and emerging threats to our internal security and evolving pathways towards addressing such.

“Secondly, this programme is expected to avail participating Police Officers of the opportunity to draw on the expertise of seasoned facilitators and the rich professional knowledge of the array of police officers here gathered. We shall also leverage on the network to be established towards enhancing peer-review towards engendering a broader understanding of our mandate and enhance our operational capacity,”  he said.

IGP Adamu charged the participants to make good use of the opportunity of the retreat, saying “with these anticipated outcomes in mind, I charge all participants to take advantage of this unique opportunity, give their utmost attention, and ensure that the purposes of this engagement are achieved. As you all know, the security threats being faced in our dear nation require urgent and well-thought out solutions. Let us, therefore, roll up our sleeves and rededicate ourselves to our statutory duties in order to provide security that will not only place us above the criminal elements, but guarantee that we deliver our services in the most professional, civil, and lawful manner.

President Muhammadu Buhari was represented at the Conference by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo