The European Union (EU) is to assist the Nigerian government by providing forensic laboratory equipment and training Nigeria’s police in crime detection and prevention, the News Agency of Nigeria reported on Wednesday.
The EU pledged the assistance in its meeting with Nigeria’s Minister of Police Affairs, Ibrahim Lame, in Brussels, Belgium, a statement issued by the ministry said.
According to the statement, the agreements reached at the meeting were also aimed at improving the capacity of the police in intelligence gathering and community policing.
The minister informed the EU delegation that the Nigerian government had conducted a comprehensive study of its police, identifying their professional, academic and welfare needs, while making efforts to address the challenges, the statement added.
The statement said the minister identified inadequate resources as a major impediment to the full implementation of the reform program.
It said that Lame expressed the government’s readiness to accept genuine assistance from organizations such as the European Commission.
“On areas of need, Lame told the delegation of the immediate desire of government to establish, in the interim, a forensic laboratory in each of the six geopolitical zones of the country,” the statement quoted the minister as saying.
Oct152009