The Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), through the Presidential Infrastructure Development Fund (PiDF) has donated some 16 fully equipped operational patrol vehicles for surveillance on Abuja-Kaduna road which has been notorious for high level insecurity in recent times.
The vehicles are the 2022 edition of Innoson Motor’s 5 – Seater Double Cabin Pick Up trucks called IVM Carrier 4WD (full option).
The trucks are all retrofitted with security and communications gadgets to equip them for the job at hand, BusinessDay understands.
The vehicles which were procured under the NSIA-managed Presidential Infrastructure Development Fund (PiDF) would be used for security/patrol purposes along the 165km stretch of the ongoing Abuja – Kaduna Road project which the Authority is handling.
The vehicles were presented to the Inspector General of Police, Usman Baba by Orji, who led the NSIA Management to the handover ceremony at the Force Headquarters in Abuja.
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In his brief remarks at the brief event, Orji said that the donation is a fulfillment of a commitment by President Muhammadu Buhari to enhance vigilance and much-desired security presence around infrastructure projects undertaken by the government.
He said the President had last year asked the NSIA to provide the vehicles under the PIDF to complement surveillance on that road.
“The Authority is of the view that security is essential to economic development. With this mind set, our goal is to ensure that across all NSIA projects, investments are made to secure lives and property.
“The donation of these 16 patrol vehicles by the PIDF to the Nigeria Police Force is in response to equip the police to better protect the lives of workers, residents, travellers as well as government assets along the ongoing AKR project,” Orji stated.
The donation comes at a time that Nigerians are mourning the dastardly act of attack by terrorists on an Abuja Kaduna bound train, where eight people were killed and 27 injured.
“The vehicles which were procured under the NSIA managed Presidential Infrastructure Development Fund (PiDF) would be used for security/patrol purposes along the 165km stretch of the ongoing Abuja – Kaduna Road project which the Authority is handling,” Managing Director, NSIA Uche Orji told Businessday.
“Each vehicle is expected to patrol 10km radius of the road,” he stated.
According to IGP Baba, the unfortunate rail incident occurred when residents and travelers were enjoying some respite along the Kaduna Abuja road because of the commitment of the inter agencies.
“The train is believed to be the safest but from the magnitude of what we have seen now by men of the underworld who used dynamite to derail the train and also attack it in the night, it means, we need to secure the rails and even the roads some more,” the IGP stated.
He commended the NSIA for the thoughtful donation saying that security is all about collaboration, synergy and cooperation from all segments of the society.
“I’m sure that this gesture will in a great way equip the patrol stations along the Abuja -Kaduna axis,” the IGP stated as he called on other agencies to emulate NSIA’s gesture.
