Police To Commence Mobilisation Of 40,000 MOPOL For New Squad; Halt Issuance Of Gun Licences

On Tuesday, the Nigeria Police Force confirmed earlier reports by THE WHISTLER to commence the mobilisation of the Police Mobile Force (PMF) for the specialised quick intervention squad.

The Acting Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Kayode Egbetokun said 40,000 personnel from the PMF, a paramilitary arm of the police, will be withdrawn for the stated purpose.

IGP stated this while meeting with members of the Police Management Team including Deputy Inspectors General of Police, Assistant Inspectors General of Police, and Commissioners of Police in Abuja.

The squad, proposed by the IGP upon his appointment, is aimed at tackling the growing concerns of insecurity across the country.

According to the police chief, the officers to be mobilised are “strong and willing strong police personnel who are expected to be drawn from their respective PMFs Squadrons, zonal commands, and other tactical units for the Force”.

On July 27, a document obtained by THE WHISTLER revealed plans by the police to withdraw PMFs for the commencement of the new squad.

Heads of Squadrons were directed to mobilise the officers in two weeks, starting from July 26, and to forward the names to the IGP.

Meanwhile, the IGP had disclosed plans to temporarily ban the issuance of gun licensing, citing the need to clamp down on the proliferation of the illegal possession of arms in the country.

“We are mopping up arms in circulation. There are too many arms in circulation and if we continue to issue licences on arms, we may continue to aggravate the problems we are trying to solve.

“For now, there is a temporary ban on the issuance of firearms. We May review it later, but we are not issuing firearms licences nationwide now,” he said while responding to questions from the press on Tuesday.

The police, however, noted that the ban may be reviewed in the future.

So far, Egbetokun said the police had arrested 297 suspects with possession of prohibited firearms as well as the recovery of at least 520 forms of firearms. A total of 4,023 ammunition was said to have also been recovered.

The police also the arrested 986 armed robbery suspects, 377 kidnap suspects, 848 suspects of homicide, 517 suspects of rape and defilement, 874 suspected cultists and 5,281 suspects of various other offenses.

Also, a total of 353 kidnap victims have been rescued, and reunited with their families, according to the IGP.

Egbetokun noted that although there are still prevailing and projected threats across the country, the police are currently carrying out several anti-banditry operations in the North East and North Central regions.