The Nigeria Police Broadcasting Service (NPBS) has concluded plans to kick-start operational activities the country.
This is sequel to the inauguration of the 16-man board of the NPBS by the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris weekend, in Abuja.
The NPBS, when operational, will cut across general security information on air, land and sea, including homeland security policing, boarder policing and airport policing as primary focus.
The outfit consists of NPBS Television, NPBS Radio, NPBS Online and NPBS Emergency Command and Control Communication Center.
Speaking on the essence of the NPBS during the inauguration, IGP Idris said: “We will tackle security challenges such as terrorism, oil bunkering, ethnic tension, herders/farmers clashes through the use of our radio and television network. It will enable the police to tell its story and set the record straight by telling positive stories and correcting distorted information about the police.”
The IGP said that the NPBS was not established for money making, but for the advancement of the function of the Nigeria Police Force as stipulated in Section 4 of the Police Act.
In his remarks, the MD/CEO of the Nigeria Police Broadcasting Service, Edirin Jerry Wesley, said the absence of an information outfit contributed to the low successes recorded by the Police in tackling crime in the country.
“It is an established fact that no nation can confront crimes headlong without credible means of factual and valid information dissemination and the absence of this over the years has been one basic defect in the fight against crime by the Nigeria Police Force.
“It is therefore my pride that after painstaking efforts made since 2012, the Management Team of the IGP Ibrahim Idris-led Nigeria Police Force and Skytick Group of Companies, are gathered here today for the inauguration of the board, for the take-off of the Nigeria Police Broadcasting Service, which will ensure the smooth take-off of a television, radio broadcast in indigenous languages, as well as other social means of communication and information dissemination,”
Wesley said.