Police commences training of 200 personnel on counter-terrorism

 

The Zone 6 Command of the Nigeria Police in Calabar on Monday commenced training of 200 senior officers within the zone on counter-terrorism.

Participants were drawn from the states within the command which includes Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Ebonyi and Rivers states.

Declaring the training workshop open, the Assistant Inspector General of Police in charge of Zone 6, Mr Abubakar Marafa, said that the training was aimed at impacting knowledge of counter-terrorism into the police in case of any attack.

Abubakar, who was represented by the Cross River Commissioner of Police, Mr Hafiz Inuwa, said that the training would also enlighten the officers on mental and physical alertness.

`Terrorism is a criminal offence. Terrorism can take place anywhere and at any given time.

“This is an opportunity the police is given to us to be prepared in case of any terrorist attack.

“The officers lined up for this training are from the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police to Chief Superintendent of Police because these are the middle level police officers in charge of our operational costs.

“This training is going to last for five days and it will be a continuous process because the police believe in training of its men on contemporary issues’’, he said.

Mr Etop James, Commissioner of Police in charge of Counter-Terrorism, Abuja, said that the police was training its personnel to be proactive in their respective divisions.

“Once you have knowledge, you have confidence. The training is meant to sharpen the knowledge of our men on how to respond to issues of terrorism, especially during explosion of bombs and others.

“We hope that this category of officers that will benefit from the training will go back to their divisions and be able to coordinate effectively’’, he said.

He encouraged the officers to pay adequate attention to the training, adding that they would be expected to bring out the best in them at the end of the training.