US conducts anti-terrorism training for police officers

As part of measures to give more bite and better coordination to the counter-terrorism campaign in Nigeria, the United States Department of State has conducted a counter-terrorism leadership course for some police officers.


It was learnt that the training was meant to correct perceived deficiencies in the counter-terrorism campaign, particularly the poor coordination and weak synergy among command police officers in the anti-terrorism unit of the force.

The training focused on how to develop the most effective means of training for bomb detection, crime scene investigation, airport and building security, maritime protections, and VIP protection.

The two-week training, which held in Abuja, was attended by the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Anti-terror Squad, the DCP, Bomb Disposal Unit, including squadron commanders, and select Mobile Police commanders.

The participants were tutored by seasoned counter-terrorism experts from the US Department of State and other security consultants.

The Force Public Relations Officer, Frank Mba, confirmed that the leadership course was organised for select senior police officers.

Our correspondent learnt that the course was coordinated by the US Embassy in Abuja with support from the Anti-terrorism Assistance which administers the Antiterrorism Assistance Programme of the United States and the Federal Government.

The leadership course is a US sponsored training which seeks to address deficiencies in the recipient nation’s border protection, critical infrastructure protection, national leadership protection, as well as in response to and resolving terrorist incidents and managing critical terrorists’ incidents having national-level implications.

Findings indicated that the course objective was to ensure a proper coordination and effective direction for the nation’s anti-terrorism programme, and also to provide the necessary resource to police officers at command positions.

The US Department of States said on its website that most ATA program recipients are developing nations lacking human and other resources needed to maintain an effective antiterrorism program and infrastructure.

Investigation shows that the Antiterrorism Assistance program trains both civilian security and law enforcement personnel from friendly governments in police procedures that deal with terrorism.

It was learnt that the leadership course may have been the outcome of the promise by the US-Nigeria Bi-National Commission which was presided over by the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, Wendy Sherman, who led the US delegation to the ninth meeting of the commission in Abuja on August 15, 2013.

The Under Secretary who met with Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan and other Nigerian ministers during her visit had promised that the US “will provide more training to the Nigerian military and other services of the Nigerian government to address the challenges it faces, particularly with the insurgency in the North-East.”

Sherman noted the inclusiveness of all voices in Nigerian society including the police, intelligence, military, civil society and state governments, in creating a comprehensive plan to deal with the security challenge in the country.