Unending attacks on policemen and their formations by gunmen have negatively affected the morale in the Force, Police Affairs Minister Muhammadu Maigari, said on Monday.
Maigari spoke after introducing acting Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Usman Baba to President Muhammadu Buhari at the State House in Abuja.
According to Maigari, the recent negative incidences have dampened morale, among policemen, adding that the administration was working on rebuilding and motivational processes to correct the damaging effects.
He said: “We intend to do it by ensuring that we have adequate equipment, we have adequate personnel and we improve the training and the welfare of the police so that we motivate them to do more.
“As you are aware, the morale of many police officers has been seriously dampened now because of the rampant killings of police officers, because of the razing down most of our officers.
“So, we need to do a kind of motivational work to ensure that we raise the morale of police and this will have started and I believe it’s going to yield a positive result.
“What we’re having at the moment is a very serious challenge. I want to assure Nigerians that with the new setup that we have now on the ground, we will make sure that we improve the situation to the best of our ability so that Nigerians will see the changes that are already on the ground.”
The acting police boss who admitted taking the at a very challenging time, said he was already introducing what he believed would mitigate the situation.
Baba said: “Like I said earlier, I have taken over at a very crucial time and I am fully aware of the situation in the country and I am introducing what I feel will mitigate these security challenges in the country and I’ve started implementing them.
“I’m ready to come and brief the President so that we can get all the support that is necessary to go about it.
“I have also promised to do my best to change the narrative, as far as internal security is concerned in this country. I’m coming back for a full brief as to how I would go about it.”