May 29: IG orders tight security nationwide

The Inspector-General of Police, Solomon Arase, has ordered Zonal Assistant Inspectors-General of Police and Command Commissioners of Police to beef up  security around  all key and vulnerable  points nationwide.

The IG directed that critical infrastructures like filling stations, major hotels, National and State Houses of Assembly, Eagle Square, Abuja, and other public places should be protected ahead of the May 29, 2015 inauguration of  new administrations in the country.
Arase, in a statement  on Thursday by the Force Public Relations Officer, Emmanuel Ojukwu, explained that this was necessary to ward off possible plans by  insurgents to carry out violent and coordinated attacks on various  installations and public places during the hand-over ceremony.
The Police High Command urged members of the public to continue collaborating with officers and men of the Nigeria Police and other security agencies  to stamp out crimes, including terrorism.
The statement noted that the police had perfected strategies to prepare a safe and secure ground for hitch-free inauguration of new governments nationwide.

Meanwhile, the IG has warned  policemen against involvement in land dispute, stressing that such cases should be referred to the court of law or for Alternative Dispute Resolution.
He frowned at the participation of police officers in land issues, which he said bred corruption,  noting that land dispute is not a criminal matter that should be settled by policemen unless there is a criminal dimension to the case.
Arase at a meeting with Inspectors and the rank and file at the Force Headquarters, Abuja, on Thursday, cautioned his men against carrying bags for VIPs, insisting that this is not part of their  job schedule as security personnel.
Apparently reacting to reports of policemen carrying VIP bags and luggage, especially at the airport and at public functions, the IG who flayed such conduct, stated that any policeman, particularly men of the Special Protection Unit, caught degrading himself would be severely punished.
The IG announced that 36,599 rank and file would be promoted soon, adding that the police management is also working hard to improve the welfare of men of the Force.