Terrorism: U.S. counter-terrorism squad trains 200 Nigerian Police, others
Adetokunbo Fakeye
United State Government’s Anti-terrorism Assistance Programme (ATA) has conducted a mass casualty exercise to culminate into a year long training programme with 200 Nigerian Police and other emergency management professionals.
This information was contained in a statement issued on Saturday in Abuja by the Public Affairs Section of U.S. Embassy.
According to the statement, the exercise, conducted in Abuja on Saturday, was ATA’s largest in Nigeria, which included participants from Nigerian Red Cross, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), and medical personnel, adding that the exercise enhanced everyone’s ability to plan effectively for and manage a mass casualty critical incident.
U.S. Embassy Chargé d’Affaires, Mrs Maria Brewer, while speaking at the event said that the exercise was to achieve new innovation among the participants.
“By bringing together all of your various agencies, with outside experts in the field, we can achieve new innovations, greater cooperation, and build upon many of the skills you already possess,” she said.
She expressed the U.S. Government’s condolences for Oct. 2 twin bomb blasts in Abuja which further emphasised the significance of the training and emergency preparedness.
National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA Director General, Alhaji Sani Sidi, at the event commended the U.S. for organising the programme for the emergency professionals and security agents.
His words: “The capacity building programme provided by the Anti-terrorism Assistance Programme of the United States is coming at a very good time when all hands must be on deck to defeat terrorism.
“There is a need for the security agencies and the Nigerian actors to step up their game in order to counter these threats”.
The US Embassy in the statement revealed that in its 1.5 million dollars programme worldwide, ATA has trained NEMA in critical incident management courses and enhanced Nigeria’s explosive ordnance disposal capabilities through courses, seminars, and equipment grants.
It added that, ATA had trained senior hospital personnel and emergency response personnel including police, fire fighters, emergency management technicians, and specialised law enforcement units on management of mass casualty incidents.