The Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Disu, has expressed confidence that the Police Mobile Force can play a major role in tackling insurgency and banditry across Nigeria.
Disu said the Federal Government’s efforts to restore peace and defeat insurgency and banditry would depend significantly on the operational preparedness of the Police Mobile Force.
The IGP made the remarks on Saturday while opening a training programme for trainers and instructors of the Mobile Police Force at the Police Mobile Force Training College, Ende Hills, Nasarawa State.
He said Mobile Police officers had the specialised training and tactical expertise needed to confront insurgency.
Speaking on the directive issued by President Bola Tinubu to security chiefs, Disu said the President had instructed all service commanders to intensify efforts to restore peace and tackle insecurity nationwide.
“The President said, ‘Call all the service commanders,’ and give marching orders: bring back peace to the country, quell insurgency, quell banditry. And everybody is going out to do that.
“But I know the biggest success for this can only come from us — from us! Because you, Mobile Police officers, you are trained on how to combat insurgency. You have that ability; you have that training,” he told the participants.
Disu stressed that reducing insurgency would remain difficult until the Mobile Police Force was fully prepared for its responsibilities, adding that Nigerians were counting on the Force to deliver.
“And I know that until the Mobile Police is ready, insurgency will be difficult to reduce. So I want us to bring back that training. I want us to bring back that ability, because the whole nation, all Nigerians, are depending on you and me,” he said.
The IGP said the expansion of the Police Mobile Force to 84 squadrons across the country was designed to strengthen its capacity to respond to Nigeria’s increasingly complex security threats, including terrorism, banditry, armed crime, communal clashes and attacks on critical infrastructure.
He described the nation’s current security situation as fluid, sophisticated and unpredictable, saying the circumstances required a Mobile Force that was not only physically strong but also tactically intelligent.
According to him, officers must combine courage with tactical awareness, speed with accuracy, and firepower with discipline while respecting human rights.
Disu said the ongoing training programme was a strategic effort to ensure that every squadron had adequately trained personnel, effective leadership, the necessary equipment and full operational readiness.
He urged the trainers to return to their respective states with the goal of producing officers who were better prepared than those they replaced, noting that the standard of training would ultimately determine the quality of personnel and the effectiveness of the fight against insurgency.
The IGP also assured the officers that police leadership would continue to focus on training, modernisation and welfare, while demanding dedication, discipline and measurable results from the Mobile Police Force.
In his remarks, the Assistant Inspector-General of Police overseeing the Police Mobile Force, Francis Idu, said the PMF had returned to its base for retraining after carrying out months of sustained clearance operations in designated high-risk areas across the country.
Idu explained that personnel deployed for stability patrols since March had been recalled to strengthen the training system and renew their focus on counter-insurgency fundamentals, fighting patrols and reviews of previous field operations.
He commended the IGP for providing the resources needed for the exercise, describing the training as essential to reactivating the Nigeria Police Force’s combat-oriented unit.
On the results of recent operations, Idu said clearance exercises had restored normalcy in areas stretching from Lagos to Edo.
He added that in the South-East, most areas had been cleared, except for the Orlu-Oko-Ihiala-Ihizougu axis.
Idu assured Nigerians that the operations would continue, adding that the renewed training would help improve field performance and increase efforts to neutralise the remaining security flashpoints.
Earlier, the Commandant of the Police Mobile Force Training College, Ende Hills, Sunday Peter, disclosed that 450 of the 750 instructors identified for the exercise were participating in the first phase.
He added that the remaining officers would take part in the second phase of the training programme.
