On the heels of the spate of violent attacks by terrorist groups on public and private institutions and places of worship, occasioning loss of innocent lives and property, the Minister of Police Affairs, Navy Capt. Caleb Olubolade, has directed the Nigeria Police to establish toll-free emergency telephone numbers to enable members of the public supply information to security agencies at no cost.
In the same vein, Olubolade also directed the placement of Information/Suggestion Boxes in strategic places nationwide to also encourage members of the public, who may either not have access to telephones or want their numbers identified, to pass valuable information to the Police.
According to Olubolade, those perpetrating these dastardly and evil acts against the nation and its people are not spirits but humans who live within the various communities.
Members of the public, he said, owe it a duty to themselves and the nation to critically watch and monitor the activities of people living amongst them and promptly report suspicious ones.
He said the Nigeria Police and other security agencies have highly capable and tested officers and men who can provide adequate security to Nigerians but reiterated the need for the people to be forthcoming with information to assist them.
In his opinion, most of the tragic events that have rocked the country in the past could have been prevented if the public had played its strategic role of providing information.
The minister has also charged Nigerians to form more Police-Community Relations Committees in their communities in liaison with police formations in order to forge a synergy between them in the drive to exterminate those bent on fomenting evil deeds in the country.
He commiserated with the victims of the attack on places of worship at the Bayero University Kano on Sunday, urging the survivors to keep praying for the perpetrators and their sponsors to be exposed so that evil will not triumph over righteousness.