•Sign agreement to improve policing services
The Inspector-General of Police, Usman Baba Alkali, on Tuesday, August 17, 2021, endorsed a cooperation agreement with his Sierra Leonean counterpart, Dr Ambrose Michael Sovula, at the Force Headquarters, Abuja.
The agreement was signed in a bilateral policing engagement, aimed at deepening and consolidating relationship between the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) and the Sierra Leone Police (SLP) in core areas of policing such as manpower development, intelligence sharing, tackling regional and transnational threats and crimes, among others.
Disclosing this in a statement, the Force Public Relations Officer, CP Frank Mba, the Inspector General of Sierra Leone Police was on a five-day working visit to the Force Headquarters, Abuja, led by the Minister of Internal Affairs, Republic of Sierra Leone, Mr. David Maurice Panda-Noah.
IGP Alkali, during the meeting, noted that “crime is dynamic especially in planning, perfection and execution, and increasingly resonating beyond the borders where it is committed.”
As a panacea for the threats, Alkali advocated, among other things, “the need for continuous bilateral police cooperation and network to successfully confront regional security threats.”
The IGP stated that the Nigeria Police Force had a historically unique relationship with the Sierra Leone police, especially in the area of capacity building.
He noted, for instance, that in 1996, the NPF offered slots for the training of seven Sierra Leonean cadet officers at the Nigeria Police Academy, kano.
The IGP proudly observed that among the officers trained at the time were the current Director of Operations in the Sierra Leone Police, AIG Ahamdu Mannah, and the current Police Commissioner for the African Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), CP Austin Kaile.
In addition, the IGP mentioned that 10 senior Sierra Leonean police officers had been part of the course participants currently attending the Strategic Leadership Command Course at the Nigeria Police National Institute of Police Studies, Abuja.
On his part, the Sierra Leonean police chief appreciated IGP Alkali for approving the participation of 10 senior police officers from his country in the ongoing course.
He also commended the leadership of the NPF for the collaboration, especially in the area of training and capacity building, expressing his belief that it would enhance the strategic management and operational visibility of the Sierra Leone police.
In his remarks, the Minister of Internal Affairs, Republic of Sierra Leone and leader of the Sierra Leonean delegation, Mr. Panda-Noah, expressed the appreciation of the government and people of the sister West African country for the collaborative relationship between the two police organizations.
He affirmed that the synergy had impacted positively on policing services in Sierra Leone, expressing the hope that the signing of the cooperation agreement would enable both countries perfect a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that would help evolve a formidable policing collaboration between the two West African countries.
IGP Alkali thereafter reiterated that the Nigeria Police Force would sustain valuable relationship with other law enforcement partners within the West-African region and across the globe, towards enhancing policing exchanges and staging common regional front in tackling crimes and criminality, and improving public safety and security.
The bilateral policing engagement also had in attendance, the High Commissioner of the Republic of Sierra Leone to Nigeria, H.E, Dr. Solomon Momoh Christopher, members of the NPF management team, senior officers of the Nigeria Police Force and other members of the Sierra Leone police delegation.
