The Director, Media and Publicity of the Tinubu-Shettima Campaign Organisation, Bayo Onanuga, has urged the heads of security agencies in Nigeria to desist from packing their operatives in patrol vans.
Onanuga described the method as “archaic” which must be substituted with immediate effect, explaining that it endangers the lives of the security agents doing their jobs.
According to Onanuga, the policemen, soldiers, and other security operatives easily fall victim to attacks from insurgents, unknown gunmen, and bandits when they are packed in pick-up vans.
He, then, advised the Inspector-General of Police, the Chief of Army Staff, and the National Security Adviser to provide bullet-proof cars for the security personnel for patrols.
Onanuga said this on his X page (formerly Twitter) in his reaction to the attack unleashed on policemen in Imo State by unknown gunmen recently.
“Please stop packing your men inside pick up vans like sardines, in the name of security patrol. They become easy targets and sitting ducks for annihilation by the enemy,” Onanuga wrote.
“I wonder why we keep doing the same thing for decades and we keep getting the same tragic result. Drop the idea of using the vans and packing up to eight people inside it.
“The idea is archaic and we must change it immediately.
“Henceforth, buy bulletproof cars for your men to do patrols and put only two of them in each vehicle.
“They will be more nimble-footed if attacked or if they run into ambush like some of your men did today in Ehime Mbano, Imo State. I do not need to be a soldier or a policeman to offer this advice. It’s mere common sense.”
