A senior police officer and counter-terrorism expert, CSP Gerald Udechukwu, has warned that Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) are no longer the easily identifiable packages of wires and disturbed soil that the public expects.
Delivering a keynote lecture at a one-day Interfaith Security Summit in Owerri on Tuesday, the Commanding Officer of the Counter Terrorism Unit (CTU) in Imo State, CSP Udechukwu, cautioned that the tactics of terror merchants have evolved, making worship centres potential killing grounds if vigilance fails.
The summit, themed “How to Identify, Manage, and Report Cases of Improvised Explosive Devices to safeguard worship centers,” was convened by the Imo State Commissioner of Police, Audu Garba Bosso, and brought together top clerics from the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and the Muslim community to brainstorm on securing places of worship.
CSP Udechukwu, a seasoned officer who enlisted in the Force in 2012 and has served in theatres of operation including the STF, Operation Hadin Kai, and the UN Peacekeeping Mission in Mali (MINUSMA), delivered a chilling assessment of the current threat landscape. He noted that the greatest weapon of an IED is no longer its size, but its ability to blend in.
“The IED’s greatest weapon is normality,” CSP Udechukwu told the gathering of religious leaders. “Gone are the days when you could spot an IED by seeing wires and disturbed grounds alone. They can now use simple markers and items that aren’t unusual.
We must shift from just looking for strange objects to paying attention to unusual behaviour.”
In a lecture that sources at the Command Headquarters described as “incisive,” Udechukwu dismantled the public perception of bombs as obvious, Hollywood-style contraptions.
He declared that the most dangerous IEDs are those that look completely normal, warning that in such situations, “curiosity kills faster than explosives. Distance is your first protection.”
Drawing from his extensive experience, including courses at the Staff College Jos and the Army War College Abuja, the Commander emphasised that awareness is a more valuable tool than technology in preventing massacres.
“If you are on alert, you can recognise an explosion before it happens. A vigilant officer can stop an explosion before the Bomb Team arrives,” he stated.
The police officer urged the congregants and leaders to adopt a new security consciousness, stressing that terrorism does not always begin with a bang.
“Terrorism does not always begin with an explosion; it begins with a moment of opportunity, when vigilance fails, and an abnormal situation is ignored,” he said.
He advised worshippers to appreciate their environment and report anomalies immediately without attempting to be heroes. “Don’t try to be a hero. Create a distance and call the EOD personnel or the nearest police station. Identifying a threat is equivalent to preventing an attack.”
The summit signals an increased push by the Nigeria Police Force, under the monitoring of the Inspector General of Police, to collaborate with religious bodies to fortify worship centres against the ever-present threat of IED attacks.
CSP Udechukwu, a native of Nnewi South LGA in Anambra State and a member of the International Association of Chiefs of Police and the International Homicide Investigation Association in the United States, was the resource person at the event, which was held under the auspices of the IGP.
