Abuja police trains officers on election duties

To ensure the conduct of peaceful, free and fair elections within the Federal Capital Territory, the police command has organised a specialised training for its officers and men.
And in the spirit of inter-agency collaboration, other security agencies were also involved in the training.
The Commissioner of Police for the FCT Command, Wilson Inalegwu, who made this known at the weekend during an I-Nigerian organised interactive media chat in Abuja, explained that the cordial relationship among security agencies in the FCT, including the military, the Department of State Services and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, is helping to achieve the objective of zero criminality.
Inalegwu, who was a senior peace keeping officer with the United Nations until recalled in 2007, said the experience he gathered at that time has been very useful since he was appointed to the present position on September 15, 2014.
He disclosed that already, a peace accord had been signed by youths who are of the original inhabitants of the FCT, okada riders, market women and traditional and religious leaders as part of efforts to ensure that the elections that will hold within the territory are peaceful.
The Police Commissioner said he met last week with all the imams, where the religious leaders unanimously expressed the desire for peace before, during and after the general elections.
He said he will meet with representatives of the Christian Association of Nigeria during this week for the same purpose.
While reiterating a resolve to maintain a peaceful territory as a way of further promoting investment, Inalegwu enjoined private citizens and corporate organisations to install closed circuit cameras in their homes and places of business to help in effective policing.
In order to ensure that criminals driven away from the FCT do not find safe havens in the neighbouring states, he said he was discussing with relevant authorities to foster a working relationship with commissioners of police in the seven states.
In addition, Inalegwu has scheduled a meeting with leaders of the Fulani communities to further enlist their help in minimising or even eliminating incidences of robberies and cattle rustlings.
The suave and urbane officer gave an assurance to residents of the territory that they are safe and that everything necessary was being done for them to continue to live peacefully.
In this vein, dozens of stolen vehicles and illegally acquired weapons have been recovered by officers and men of the command in the course of their operations.