U.S. Donates Bomb Disposal Equipment to Nigeria Police

...Helped Train Some Nigerian Police Officers.

The United States Department of State on Tuesday in Abuja donated bomb disposal equipment to the Nigeria Police Force.

According to a statement on Wednesday signed by Deputy Force Public Relations Officer, Frank Mba, the donation is in accordance with U.S. efforts at strengthening capacity of the Nigeria Police personnel to tackle terrorism and other contemporary security challenges in Nigeria.

Explosives Ordinance Disposal (EOD) remote control robots are capable of carrying out safe detonation of Improvised Explosive Device (IED) and can demobilise explosives-laden vehicles among others.

Demonstrating the capacity of the donated robots to the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, a Nigeria Police EOD robot technician stated that the device can locate and defuse suspicious and hazardous explosive items from remote places and is also capable of firing “disrupters” and delivering counter IED charges that can demobilise and render an IED safe.

Mr. Abubakar promised to put the robots to effective use across the country. He enjoined other wealthy countries, individuals, as well as corporate organisations to take a cue from this United States’ gesture and join hands in supporting the police and other security agencies in the fight against crime. He said the task of securing Nigeria is a collective responsibility and not that of the government alone.

He also admonished police officers, especially those in the EOD unit, to take advantage of the equipment just donated and others recently acquired by the Force in delivering on their mandate of making Nigeria a crime and explosives-free nation.

Also, the U.S. Department of State, through the U.S. Anti Terrorism Assistance (ATA) Programme, has succeeded in training a number of Nigeria Police personnel attached to the Anti Bomb Unit of the Force in modern bomb disposal techniques and explosives investigation courses.

July 25, 2013