The Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Disu, has expressed confidence in the ability of the Police Mobile Force to play a major role in tackling insurgency and banditry across the country.

He said the success of the Federal Government's efforts to restore peace and suppress insurgency and banditry would depend largely on the operational readiness of the Mobile Police Force.

Disu stated this on Saturday while declaring open a training course for trainers and instructors of the Mobile Police Force at the Police Mobile Force Training College, Ende Hills, Nasarawa State.

The IGP said Mobile Police officers possess specialised training and tactical capabilities needed to combat insurgency and other complex security threats.

Speaking on President Bola Tinubu's directive to security chiefs, Disu said the President had given clear marching orders to service commanders to restore peace across the country.

“The President said, ‘Call all the service commanders,’ and give marching orders: bring back peace to the country, quell insurgency, quell banditry. And everybody is going out to do that.

“But I know the biggest success for this can only come from us — from us! Because you, Mobile Police officers, you are trained on how to combat insurgency. You have that ability; you have that training,” he told participants.

The police chief said reducing insurgency would remain difficult without a fully prepared and operationally ready Mobile Police Force.

“And I know that until the Mobile Police is ready, insurgency will be difficult to reduce. So I want us to bring back that training. I want us to bring back that ability, because the whole nation, all Nigerians, are depending on you and me,” he said.

Disu explained that the expansion of the PMF to 84 squadrons across the country was part of efforts to reposition the Force to address Nigeria's growing and complex security challenges, including terrorism, banditry, armed criminality, communal violence and attacks on critical infrastructure.

According to him, the country's security environment had become fluid, sophisticated and unpredictable, making it necessary to build a Mobile Police Force that is not only strong but also smart.

He said such a force must combine physical courage with tactical intelligence, speed with precision, and firepower with discipline and respect for human rights.

The IGP described the ongoing training course as a strategic intervention aimed at ensuring that every PMF squadron is properly trained, led, equipped and prepared for operations.

He charged the trainers to return to their respective states with the goal of producing better officers than those they met, stressing that the quality of training would ultimately determine the quality of personnel and the success of the fight against insurgency.

Disu assured the officers that the Force leadership would continue to prioritise training, modernisation and personnel welfare but said commitment, discipline and measurable results were expected from Mobile Police officers.

In his address, the Assistant Inspector-General of Police in charge of the Police Mobile Force, Francis Idu, said the PMF had returned to base for retraining after several months of sustained clearance operations in designated security hotspots across the country.

Idu said operatives deployed for stability patrols since March were recalled to reorganise the training system and refocus on the fundamentals of counter-insurgency operations, fighting patrols and after-action reviews from field encounters.

He thanked the IGP for mobilising resources for the training, describing the exercise as vital to reactivating the fighting unit of the Nigeria Police Force.

On the gains recorded during operations, Idu said clearance exercises had helped restore normalcy in areas from Lagos to Edo.

He added that in the South-East, apart from the Orlu-Oko-Ihiala-Ihizougu axis, other areas were now clear.

The AIG assured that security operations would continue and expressed confidence that the retraining programme would further improve field performance and help security operatives address the remaining flashpoints.

Earlier, the Commandant of the Police Mobile Force Training College, Ende Hills, Sunday Peter, said that 450 out of 750 identified instructors were participating in the first phase of the training.

He added that the remaining officers would take part in the second phase of the exercise.