The Inspector General of Police, IGP Mohammed Abubakar Adamu, has ordered the deployment of specially trained Police K9 dogs to all railway stations in Nigeria.

According to him, the move is in furtherance of the determination of the Nigeria Police Force to tackle new dimensions of crime especially kidnapping, armed robbery, and drug peddling.

Adamu, who spoke on Tuesday while flagging off the deployment, said that the importance of utilizing the special breed dogs in combating crimes and sundry internal security threats in the 21st century cannot be over emphasised

He said, “This initiative is within context and it is planned to complement the existing security measures emplaced for the; and safety of passengers and critical infrastructure of the Nigeria Railway Corporation across the country.

“Indeed, K9 are known to possess extra-ordinary capacity for detection of improvised explosives devices (IEDs), narcotics and other illicit drugs, firearms and other prohibited items which criminals usually engage for the perfection of their criminal activities.

“The deployment of Police dogs is therefore meant for detection or prevention crimes along the railway corridors. Their brief shall be for patrols, surveillance, detection and apprehension of felons in and around railway facilities.

“The Nigeria Police pride itself as having one of the most equipped, experienced, highly-trained, and functional K9 Section.

“They also have commendable antecedent of successful anti-crime, crowd control and civil disorder management operations in the country.

“Indeed, it is on record that the Nigeria Police Force Animal Branch has been instrumental to the training and development of similar branches for other security agencies in the country.

“With this deployment, our plan is to maximize our unique K9 strength to complement other sections that have been deployed as part of the broad policing architecture which we recently emplaced towards addressing our internal security challenges.

Recalling that prior to this, about one thousand additional police personnel were deployed to the Nigeria Police railway Command, the IGP said: “This unprecedented deployment was designed to address the manpower gap of the Command and reposition them to address vulnerabilities, projected threats, and security challenges which the increasing human traffic and expanding assets of the Nigeria Railway Corporation may present”.

“With today’s initiative, passengers, staff, and indeed, all the citizens of this country can further be re-assured of their security as they patronize the services of the Nigerian Railway Corporation.

“I can also assure that all the assets of the Police shall continually be mobilized and deployed towards denying criminal elements of any space to operate in any location in the country.

“We, however, continually solicit the cooperation of all. We encourage all citizens to embrace the concept of ‘if you see something, say something’.

“Indeed, our appeal now is ‘if you suspect something, say something’. This is a civil obligation of all citizens and this is the most potent weapon towards collectively winning the war against elements bent on threatening our security.”

While commending the officers and men of the K9 Section of the Nigeria Police for their resolve and commitment in ensuring that the maximum capabilities of these dogs are harnessed for the safety of our country, he assured that “your welfare and that of your dogs will always be of priority to myself and the entire management team as you join this operation today.”

“I also wish to utilise this opportunity to commend all police personnel currently on the Operation Puff Adder duty for their sacrifice, loyalty, dedication to duty and professionalism which have so far aided the operation in achieving its goals of stabilizing the internal security order.”

“I am very proud of your achievements. I, however, charge you all to sustain the tempo, noting that crime is a dynamic occurrence and even though we have recorded tremendous successes, we cannot afford to lower our guards.”