CBD, FCT Abuja: Following a directive from President Muhammadu Buhari, the Presidential Infrastructure Development Fund (“PIDF”) working through the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (“NSIA” or “the Authority”) has donated 16 fully equipped operational security vehicles to the Nigeria Police Force to further protect lives and property along the 165km stretch of the ongoing Abuja-Kano Road (“AKR”) construction project. The vehicle model donated is the 2022 edition of Innoson Motor’s 5 – Seater Double Cabin Pickup trucks called IVM Carrier 4WD (full option). The trucks have all been retrofitted with security and communications gadgets as specified by the police force.
The provision of the vehicles is consistent with the Administration’s strategy for securing lives and property across the country. 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. It is expected that there will be on vehicle station every 10km along the AKR stretch of road.
The security vehicles were presented to the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Usman Alkali Baba by the Authority’s Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Uche Orji, who led NSIA’s Management to the Force Headquarters in Abuja where the formal handover of the vehicles was conducted.
Speaking at the event, Mr. Uche Orji said “The President has stated on numerous occasions that security is essential to economic development. At the NSIA, our goal is to ensure that across all NSIA projects, investments are made to secure lives and property. The handover of these 16 patrol vehicles as directed by His Excellency, President Buhari under by the PIDF to the Nigeria Police Force serves to further equip the police to better protect the lives of workers, residents, travelers as well as government assets along the ongoing AKR construction project”.
The Abuja-Kano Road project is one of the road infrastructure projects subsumed under the PIDF. The project was initially conceived as a rehabilitation contract to correct certain sections of the road as well as construct new sections. It is a critical part of the A2, which is a main artery within Nigeria’s transportation grid, enabling the movement of people and products from the North to the South and vice versa. The project has subsequently been rescoped to a full reconstruction of the entire 375km of the road spanning from Abuja to Kano through Zaria and Kaduna.
