Nigeria’s National Economic Council has set up a Security and Policing committee to seek for greater funding of the police.
Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, stated this while briefing State House correspondents on the outcome of Thursday’s meeting of the National Economic Council presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.
He said the members of the committee are the governors of Ekiti State, Bayelsa State, Ebonyi State, Kastina State, Kogi State and Borno State.
They will be joined by the National Security Adviser, the Inspector General of Police and the Chief of Defence Staff or his representative.
“Our challenge is that funding which the council has taken note of and then the idea of this Police Reform Bill that was passed by National Assembly was kind of appreciated by the council and then, they all agreed that that was the way to go in order to get more funding for the police.”
The IGP said he gave the general internal security situation in the country and presented the strategy put in place in order to reduce crime and insecurity in the country.
“The general crime situation in the country is touching on kidnapping, banditry, cultism and armed robbery.
“This came under the strategic cooperation that we came up with which we called `Operation Puff Adder’ and within the framework of that operation a lot of kidnapping suspects were arrested; a lot of arms were recovered and this we succeeded of the cooperation from members of the public.
Safe city
Adamu said part of the strategy to deal with the security situation and to prevent crime, which he presented at the meeting was to bring back the`Safer City’ concept.
According to him, this would ensure that all major cities are fixed with CCTV.
“The project has been going on but now we resuscitated the programme and we have started with FCT.
“Within our Command and Control Office, we are able to put some cameras at strategic places in FCT with a view to reviving this Safer City initiative.
“We have written to state governors also asking the state governors to key into that strategy so that major cities within the states also have CCTV coverage.
“We are reinvigorating the Safer Highway initiative and we are getting more fleets of vehicles and we are going to put cameras on the vehicles that will patrol our highways.”
Adamu said that it would no longer be vehicles with police officers moving up and down, but cameras that would help them see far before they get close to the scene of crime.
Excess Crude Account.
Governor Umar Fintiri of Adamawa State said at the briefing that the ad-hoc committee on Nigeria’s Excess Crude Account and remittances from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation was reconstituted at the NEC meeting.
According to him, the members of the committee are the governors of Edo, Kaduna, Jigawa and Ebonyi States.
“The committee will meet with relevant federal government officials for their reconciliation.
“Equally, a report on the Excess Crude Account was presented to the Council by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance.
“The balance of the Excess Crude Account as at June 19, 2019 was $144, 900,907. 7.
“Also updates on the Stabilization Fund Account was presented to the Council; and as today the balance in the Stabilization Fund Account stood at N17,667, 778, 861.99.”
Finitiri said the Natural Resources Development Fund stood at N77, 735, 485, 231.19.
