The Police Service Commission has said that the police lack adequate and sophisticated weapons to tackle the security challenges in the country.
Reacting to the brutal killing of 43 rice farmers in Borno State by the Boko Haram terrorists, a member of the Police Service Commission, Austin Braimoh, said in a Television programme in Abuja on Tuesday, that the onslaught would be forestalled if the police had lethal ammunition to face the insurgents.
“We do not have the required armoury to face internal insurrection,” Braimoh said. “Like what is happening in Borno State, you will agree with me that the police are the number one institution that is supposed to be on the ground to maintain peace. By the time the military liberates the territory, we are supposed to have a strong police presence in that environment.
“The unfortunate development of the slaughter of over 43 innocent farmers may have been averted if we had the right presence of policemen in that place. The spokesman of the president, while defending what happened yesterday, alluded to the fact that when these farmers go into the field, they usually enlist the services of the Civilian Joint Task Force.
“The Civilian JTF go before them, give them some level of protection from these insurgents, and when they close, they also escort them.”
Braimoh, a commissioner in the PSC Board, also talked about the importance of the government to fund the police, as well as annual recruitment to fortify the workforce that will combat insecurity.
“If we keep bringing 10,000 men on board every year, we will certainly get to the required number,” he said.
