The Inspector-General of Police, Usman Baba, has said the Nigeria Police Force won’t ever permit police headquarters and staff under the power to be overwhelmed again.
Speaking at the Lagos State Police Command headquarters in Ikeja, Baba added that they force would be embarking on training of officers to ensure that they operate within the enabling laws that empowered them to discharge their duties.
Baba said, “We need to remind ourselves of the enormous tasks of policing under a democratic dispensation. It is a known fact that we have not gotten all that we need to discharge our duties and responsibilities in terms of personnel, equipment and other things. But with the limited resources and personnel that we have, we are going to do our job with more dedication and professionalism.
“For the avoidance of doubt, personnel and recruitment into the force at all cadres will begin very soon. As for equipment and working tools, we just started taking delivery of riot equipment, vehicles and other fundamental tools from the police trust fund.”
Baba stated that funding and budgetary allocation for the police had increased, adding that the force was working on enhancing police pension after service, among others.
He said. “The bedrock of the NPF is discipline. As strategic managers and officers in this business of policing we need to enforce serious discipline. One area we need to improve on is the issue of crowd control, riots, so that you go back to the acceptable norms of discharging these duties and responsibilities.
“You must also control the use of firearms. You need to monitor your men, force order 237 has been reviewed, so you need to educate your men and remind them that once you are assigned a riffle, there are time and reason for its use.
“We must also be civil in discharging our responsibilities at all time. Never again do we allow our stations and personnel to be overrun to the extent that we will not be able to handle situations that can easily be handled because of cowardice or lack of professionalism.”
The state Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu, appreciated the leadership of the NPF in restoring lives back to the police families that suffered the largest loss during the #EndSARS demonstrations.
He added, “I want to passionately appeal to the IGP to assist the command in facilitating the reconstruction and rehabilitation of the police stations and barracks that were burnt and vandalised during the 2020 violent #EndSARS protests in the state to enable the displaced families be accommodated.”
PUNCH
