In a bid to ensure security at Railway Stations in the country the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) has deployed K9 assets of the Force to all our railway stations across the country.
Speaking at the formal deployment of the K9 component of the Operation Puff Adder, Tuesday, at the Force Headquarters, Abuja, the Inspector General of Police, IGP Mohammed Adamu, said: “This initiative is within the context of Operation Puff Adder and it is planned to compliment the existing security measures emplaced for the security and safety of passengers and critical infrastructure of the Nigeria Railway Corporation across the country.
“The deployment of special breed and exceptionally-trained police dogs for security duties is as old as human civilization. Hence, their utilization in combating crimes and sundry internal security threats in the 21st century cannot be over emphasised.
“Indeed, K9 are known to possess extra-ordinary capacity for detection of Improvised Explosives Devices (IEDs), narcotics and other illicit drugs, firearms and other prohibited items which criminals usually engage for the perfection of their criminal activities.”
He said, “The deployment of Police dogs is therefore meant for detection and prevention of crimes along the railway corridors. Their brief shall be for patrols, surveillance, detection and apprehension of felons in and around railway facilities.
“This unprecedented deployment is designed to address the manpower gap of the Command and reposition them to address vulnerabilities, projected threats, and security challenges which the increasing human traffic and expanding assets of the Nigeria Railway Corporation may present.
“The Nigeria Police prides itself as having one of the most equipped, experienced, highly-trained, and functional K9 Section. They also have commendable antecedent of successful anti-crime, crowd control and civil disorder management operations in the country.
“It is on record that the Nigeria Police Force Animal Branch has been instrumental to the training and development of similar branches for other security agencies in the country.”
The police boss encourage all citizens to embrace the concept of ‘if you see something, say something’. Indeed, our appeal now is ‘if you suspect something, say something,’ noting that “it is a civil obligation of all citizens and this is the most potent weapon towards collectively winning the war against elements bent on threatening our security.”
Earlier, Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) in charge of Operations, Abdulmajid Ali, said the security of Railway Stations and its critical infrastructure has been reinforced in view of the challenges of kidnapping, armed robbery and other violent crimes. Therefore, the deployment of K9 becomes imperative.
“To ensure professionalism the dog handlers have undergone intensive training with dogs in terms of agility, criminal attacks, sniffing minute quantity of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) or any of its composition. The dog operatives have been trained in techniques and tactics of firm control over dogs.”
The DIG, who was represented by Assistant Inspector General of Police, AIG Peter Ogunyewo, while appreciating the IGP for his support and understanding, said the section was having operational logistics and training challenges including: dearth of dogs to cover identified vulnerable beats.
He further stated, “The K9 training institution at Bukuru, Jos, is in a state of disrepair with dilapidated structures and facilities, lack of dog trainers: it is on record that there are only three dogs trainers, which is grossly inadequate to cover their entire country, particularly in the area of crowd control. Operational vehicles for deployment is in serious want.
“Premised on the above, I crave the indulgence of the IGP to look into the myriads of the challenges with a view to ameliorating them in order to enhance our operational efficiency and effectiveness.”
Highpoint of the event was the parade and demonstration by the K9 team led by Inspector Izingbe Osagie of the Police Dog Training School in Dei-Dei, Abuja.