The Ministry of Police Affairs was resuscitated to oversee the development and implementation of strategies to enhance internal security, President Muhammadu Buhari has said.
Buhari disclosed this while delivering his speech in a live broadcast to mark Nigeria’s 59th Independence Day celebration on Tuesday morning.
The ministry was collapsed with the Ministry of Interior by Buhari when he stepped into office for his first tenure in 2015.
However, the Police ministry was carved out at the start of his second term following numerous security challenges bedeviling the country.
And in his Independence Day speech, Buhari said; “My recent assent to the Nigerian Police Trust Fund (Establishment) Act has created a legal framework to support our Police with increased fiscal resources to enhance their law enforcement capabilities.
“These initiatives are being complemented by the ongoing recruitment of 10,000 constables into the Nigeria Police Force.
“This clearly demonstrates our commitment to arrest the incidence of armed robbery, kidnapping and other violent crimes across our nation.”
While acknowledging that good governance and economic development could not be sustained without an enabling environment of peace and security, Buhari said his administration had combated the terrorist scourge of Boko Haram.
“We owe a debt of gratitude to our gallant men and women in arms, through whose efforts we have been able to achieve the present results.
“We are also grateful to our neighbours and allies – within the region and across the world – who have supported us on this front,” he added.
Buhari stressed that the capacity of the country’s armed forces to defend the territorial integrity of Nigeria had been enhanced by the acquisition of military hardware as well as continued improvements in the working conditions of service men and women.
He also said his administration remained equally resolute in its efforts to combat militant attacks on the country’s oil and gas facilities in the Niger Delta and accelerate the Ogoni Clean-up to address long-standing environmental challenges in that region.
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