Minister of Police Affairs, Muhammad Maigari Dingyadi has said the Ministry has recorded a significant milestone within one year after its re-establishment August 2019.
While noting that the Ministry is committed to keying into President Muhammadu Buhari’s vision of frontally dealing with myriads of insecurity bedevilling the country, Dingyadi stated that a new internal security framework that would modernise the existing security architecture is underway to retool policing operations for optimal performance.
Addressing newsmen in Abuja on Friday, the Minister said even though the past one year was riddled with challenges, the Ministry under his watch made efforts to live up to its vision of repositioning the Police Force to be efficient, well-motivated and well equipped to face modern security challenges.
Dingyadi enumerated some of the achievements of the Ministry under his leadership in the last one year to include, re-establishment of functional departments in the Ministry, supervision of the recruitment, training and deployment of 10,000 constables into the Nigeria Police Force, resuscitation of the USD470 million National Public Security Communication System (NPSCS) Network, which he observed will generate thousands of well-paying jobs when fully implemented, participation of Nigerian police contingency in peace-keeping missions, acquisition of police operational/combat vehicles earlier commissioned by President Muhammadu Buhari.
“The Ministry through the Nigeria Police continues to participate in peace-keeping operations under the United Nations and African Union Missions in several parts of the world including; South Sudan, Mali, Liberia, Somalia, etc.
“The Nigeria police contingents in such missions successfully protected civilians, prevented and repelled violent attacks, quelled riots, protected IDP camps, etc all to the satisfaction of the UN and AU, together with the host nations, thereby earning enviable commendations and medals” the Minister said.
He also added, “We have commissioned State of the Art Nigeria Police Force National Command and Control Centres in Abuja and Lagos, while commissioning of Kano and Port Harcourt centres are underway.
“The Ministry through the Nigeria Police launched Operation Puff Adder, which the IGP established by bringing personnel from Tactical Units including the Police Mobile Force (PMF), Special Forces and Counter Terrorism Unit (CTU). Operation Puff Adder was put in place to curtail the menace of banditry in the North East. This is being extended to other geo-political zones of the country.
“The Ministry through the Police Academy, Wudil, Kano graduated and conducted the passing out of six hundred and thirty-seven cadets on 12th December, 2019 as Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP). The Police Academy (POLAC) also admitted one thousand, two hundred and ninety-five (1,295) undergraduates for the 2019/2020 academic session.”
He said the Ministry in synergy with the Nigeria Police has commenced arrangements to recruit and enlist constabularies across the 774 local governments in the country for the implementation of community policing recently inaugurated by President Muhammadu Buhari in all states of the federation and FCT.
The Minister further expressed the readiness of the Ministry to enhance the welfare of staff and its agencies, observing that provision of working tools and conducive working environment for effective service delivery cannot be compromised.
In his response, the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Mohammed Adamu expressed gratitude to the Minister for partnering with the police in tackling conflicts and violent crimes across the country.
Mr. Adamu said the Police have ended recorded improvement in tackling pipeline vandalisation in the Southern part of the country.
He further highlighted that the force under his leadership has helped in fighting insurgency in the North East region of the country, stating that the insurgents have been significantly degraded and confined to only the Lake Chad region.
On the banditry currently ravaging the North West, Adamu said concerted efforts are ongoing to eliminate the menace as well as other violent crimes, including kidnap for ransom.
He called on Nigerians to continue offering support to the force in its commitment to guarantee safety of lives and property.
Earlier, the Permanent Secretary Ministry of Police Affairs, Nnamdi Moris said the Minister within one year in office has provided the enabling environment for the Nigeria Police for perform its duties with ease and focus.
According to the Permanent Secretary, the one year scorecard of the Minister is a factual representation of his achievements since he came on board.
He said, “The Honourable Minister since assumption of office has painstakingly engaged the leadership of the Nigeria Police Force, the leadership of National Assembly and other stakeholders which I can tell you has yielded positive results in reforming the Nigeria police force to guarantee safety of lives and property of all Nigerians.” 
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