The Inspector- General of Police (IGP), Mr. Olatunji Disu, has talked tough, warning Nigeria police officers against impunity, saying that such an era was long gone.
He made the declaration during his official visit to the Edo State Police command in Benin City.
IGP Disu, who started by asking if they were happy with the current image of the police, referenced the incidents that happened in Delta State and Port Harcourt and said they were embarrassing.
“I’m here to discuss with you one-on-one. I want you to see me, at least physically.
“I want to be able to discuss with you the aims and objectives of this administration and I want to let you know what I expect from you.
“I have questions upon questions to ask you. I will be doing that as this lecture goes on.
“The first question is, are you happy about the situation that the Nigerian police is at the moment?
“Are you happy the way we have been rated? No, that is very good.
But I know you and I can do better. I know the stuff with which all of you are made. I know we qualified to be the best police in Africa.
“We are qualified to be the best in the world if we want to do it. If we want to do it.
“And I’m sure before I leave this place I’m going to get your commitment.
“Before I go on, I want to mention the incident that happened in Delta some weeks past.
“Police officers were called to come and make an arrest. The arrest was even made by citizens.
“And the suspect was handed over to the police only for an Assistant Superintendent of Police to take the suspect and shoot him in broad daylight.
“Is that what we are taught in academy? Is that what they taught us in college? Then where did we learn things like that?
“I know for you to pass in academy I know for you to pass in police college you must have done so well because they always pile us with lectures upon lectures.
“How did you feel after that policeman disgraced all of us? You feel good about it?
“You felt bad about it? You felt it was difficult for you to put on your uniform after that? That is how all of us felt. They have been tried.
“The officers among them have been taken to FDC and they were recommended for dismissal.
“And the Police Service Commission has approved it.
“The case files have been sent to DPP and I’m sure very soon they will be charged to court.
“And even yesterday the Force PPRO paraded some suspects police officers who turned rogue.
“They got vehicles and they started moving around in town in protocols.
“Arresting everybody arbitrarily moving them round and round town and finally collecting their money from ATM. They have been tried.
“The officers among them have gotten their query.
“They have all been recommended for dismissal. And I’m sure they are going to court any moment from now”, Disu added.
He noted that to end impunity in the Nigeria Police, all hands must be on deck and the officers and men should be ready to cooperate and contribute their quota by exhibiting conduct that will endear them to the public.
“Like I mentioned earlier, the era of iniquity is over.
“We have to have the new Nigerian Police Force. I know I cannot do it alone.
“That is why I have come to talk to you, so that all of us will be on the same page.
“Do I have your cooperation that all of us are going to have a new police? Do I have your words that it’s going to be good good as from now on? Do I have your cooperation that we will not be misbehaving, that we will all feel so bad to put on our uniform? I thank you so much”, Disu said.
On his part, the Edo State Commissioner of Police, CP Monday Agbonika, thanked the IGP for his visit to the command.
He said the command had recorded some major successes in crime fighting through collaborations with sister security agencies in the state, noting that more crime fighting equipment was still needed in order to reduce crime and criminality in the state.
