NATIONAL MIRROR – The Inspector General of Police, IGP, Mohammed Abubakar, has refuted claim that the Presidency is using the Force to train snipers ahead of the 2015 polls, saying the police as an institution would not allow itself to be dragged into politics.
Abubakar spoke yesterday in Abuja at a maiden strategic review conference with senior police officers from the rank of Commissioners of Police.
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo had written a letter to President Goodluck Jonathan and accused him of sundry issues and even training snipers. The country has been left guessing about which security agency could be involved in such training.
However, when asked whether the police were involved in such training, Abubakar said Obasanjo’s letter did not mention or indicted the police.
He said: “We are not training snipers. The letter did not even mention the police. You have always come here (Force Headquarters). Have you seen any sniper being trained?”
Speaking on the essence of the conference, Abubakar said that the security and political situations in each of the 36 states would be reviewed.
This, he said, had become necessary to enable the force adopt strategies to tackle security challenges and check political crises.
The IGP said: “We are going to pay attention to political situation in Nigeria and look at the zones and each state of the country.
“We will review the political situations in each state, adjudge and see what the Commissioner of Police has been able to do and whether he has been able to take care of such situation.
“Where he has challenges, we will look at that challenges and find out the impediments that have stopped him from doing what he is supposed to do to avoid political crisis.”