NITDA trains 200 policemen in Gombe
No fewer than 200 police officers benefitted from a training facilitated by the National Information Technology Development Agency.
While addressing the officers in Gombe on Friday at the closing session of the training, Oqua Etim, the Commissioner of Police in the state urged them to seek more knowledge to enhance their performance.
Etim stated that the training was important in view of the digital nature of the society and crimes, hence the policemen needed to be knowledgeable in this regard to be able to combat crimes in contemporary time.
He said, “Times are changing, before we were taking about highway robbery but today we are talking of cyber crime, where people sit at the comfort of their offices on a laptop and do the needful.
“ So we have to keep abreast to ensure that we effectively provide security to our citizens; hence the training.”
The Commissioner said that the training would make the officers better prepared to serve Nigerians in the state.
He urged the officers to leverage the knowledge acquired to improve their performance for the betterment of citizens.
Etim also seized the opportunity to reiterate the command’s stands against violating human rights while on duty.
“The era of police brutality has been cast in the dust bin of history.
“We are in a democratic dispensation and what is expected of us is to subordinate ourselves to the civil authority; we are a civil police.
” You are under civil authority; you are servants, you are not bosses and not lords.
” You have been employed, trained, equipped and paid by citizens’ taxes to serve them,” he said.
He said officers were expected to comport themselves at all times and not exercise acts of bullying in any forms.
“If I was to employ the services of a taxi driver, I am expected to pay; if I use public mass, when the bills come I am expected to pay.
“What you find in other places where policeman enter buses and tell you they are staff will not be tolerated here,” he warned.
He commended the NITDA officials for training the officers while urging the agency to continue to support the command with such trainings for improved policing in the state.
Also speaking, Kashifu Abdullahi, Director-General/Chief Executive Officer commended the policemen for their dedication and commitment throughout the training.
Abdullahi represented by Ahmed Mohammed, Coordinator, North-East Zonal office, NITDA said the training would help boost the performance of personnel and ensure that citizens get good policing in the state.
He urged the trained officers to continue to use the knowledge their have acquired not just for their computer-based examination but also for their daily routine to ensure improved performance.
Abdulmalik Abubakar, the Deputy Manager, Cyber Security in charge of the training, NITDA Northeast zonal office said the training was in line with NITDA’s digital literacy drive to train millions of Nigerians by 2030.
Abubakar said the police was collaborating his agency to assist them in preparing their officers for their CBT exams and digital literacy.
He said that the knowledge being acquired by the personnel would help motivate them on their jobs.
” If based on the training, they are able to sit their CBT promotion exams and get promoted, he will be better motivated and that’s good for you, for me and for the country.”
