National award: We’re ready for troublemakers, say police

SEPTEMBER 16, 2012 BY ADELANI ADEPEGBA 

Inspector General of police, Muhammed Abubakar

The Nigeria Police have assured that the national honours award holding in Abuja on Monday would record no security breach, saying it had put in place the necessary security strategy to ward off any security breach.

Speaking against the backdrop of the protests over an anti-Islamic movie that rocked different parts of the world including Jos, Plateau State and Sokoto State, Deputy Force Public Relations Officer, Mr. Frank Mba, stated that the police and other security agencies were ready to contain any security threat from any quarters during the awards ceremony particularly from protesters.

Some youths who planned to protest in Jos on Friday were reportedly dispersed by soldiers who fired gunshots in the air.

Protesters in Sokoto allegedly burnt a US flag, but Kano, Kaduna, Maiduguri and Damaturu, which had been flash points of religious violence in the country, were generally calm.

The youths, some of them wearing white shirts that read “To hell with America, To hell with Israel,” chanted slogans and called for the arrest of the makers of the film that had triggered protests across the Middle East and North Africa.

But Mba who spoke in a telephone interview on Saturday explained that security agencies had “done the right thing” which he said was why no violent protest was recorded in the country over the movie.

The police spokesman added that security personnel had taken proactive measures to forestall violence across the nation, stressing that the measures put in place had ensured peace and safety.

“The police in collaboration with other security agencies have done the right thing and that is why there is no violence in the country in the past weeks, though there have been protests in others parts of the world.

“We are taking proactive measures to ensure a water-tight security in the country and our strategies are working; the national awards ceremony will be hitch-free and our guests and awardees are advised to feel relax: it is a national day of honour and we have put in place the necessary arrangement to guarantee security of lives and property,” Mba stated.

The police stated that they would sustain the peace and harmony in the country by nipping evil plots in the bud and taking the fight to hoodlums and criminals.

SOURCE: The Punch - Nigeria's Most Widely Read Newspaper16 September 2012.