The Minister of Police Affairs, Alhaji Mohammed Dingyadi, said Nigeria would partner with the European Union to ensure effective policing of the country.
Dingyadi disclosed this on Thursday in Abuja during a courtesy visit by a delegation from the EU led by Mr Ketil Karlsen, the Head of EU Delegation to Nigeria and West Africa.
He said the EU had been a very important partner to Nigeria, adding that the Federal Government was ready to consolidate on the partnership for the benefit of the Nigeria and the EU.
He said that President Muhammadu Buhari had out of his desire to place the police in a proper perspective re-established the Ministry of Police Affairs.
Dingyadi said that the idea was to ensure that all the needed equipment, facilities, training and retraining were provided for the police.
According to him, if we are talking about internal security, we must mention the police first because they are the first point of call.
“We welcome whatever support that is available from the EU which we believe that you will have a lot to offer.
“Like big brothers, we know you have been doing it and all we are asking for is that you continue to support us in all security related issues.
“We know that the EU is out to promote democracy, peace and security in the world,” he said.
Earlier, Karlsen said the visit was to deliberate on security related issues in the country in line with the long standing relationship existing between EU and Nigeria.
He added that his belief had always been that, “what is good for Nigeria is good for the EU as well”.
Karlsen said that the EU collaboration with the Nigerian Police in different areas had been very cordial.
According to him, the EU is providing support to the tune of 100 million Euros to Nigeria in different security areas.
“Specifically, we have a number of subject matters ranging from the prison services, drug abuse and the installation of African system for exchange of information through the Interpol.
“We depend on police on issues concerning democratic governance because of its roles and collaborations with democratic institutions like INEC during elections in the past.
“We thought it important to engage the police because we have also seen the significant role of the force in tackling the security challenges in the country,” he said.
