Alkali Baba Usman, the Inspector-General of Police, IGP, on Wednesday, June 9, 2021, in Lagos, warned officers and men of the Lagos State Police Command not to allow themselves or their stations to be overrun again, either due to what he described as lack of professionalism or cowardice.
Rather, he urged them to improve in the area of crowd control, riot management, and the use of firearms in accordance with the acceptable norms of discharging their constitutional duties.
He handed down the warning while addressing officers and men during his familiarization visit to the Lagos State Police Command.
He said: “Never again should we allow our stations and our personnel to be overrun to the extent that we would not be able to handle situations that can easily be handled because of lack of professionalism, cowardice or whatever.
“The service can no longer tolerate acts of indiscipline which is not known to us.
We must do the needful to be able to carry on with our job.”
Usman noted that though the Nigeria Police had not got all it needed in terms of personnel and equipment to discharge its duties and responsibilities, urging them to put in more commitment and dedication with the little resources at their disposal.
Already, he said, measures were being taken to address the need of the Police, particularly in the area of recruitment which he said would soon commence.
In his charge to the officers and men, the IGP said, “ we have a duty to perform and this is the duty of crime prevention and control, maintenance of law and order. While we do that as professionals in the business of crime and control, in consonance with all laws, there are things we need to take into cognizance in the discharge of our duties and responsibilities.
“I am here to remind ourselves of the enormous task of policing under a democratic dispensation. It is a known fact that we have not got all that we need to discharge our duties and responsibilities in terms of personnel recruitment and other things. Be that as it may with the little resources we have and personnel, we are going to do our job with determination and professionalism.
“I want to say that there are lots of measures that the government has put in place in terms of personnel increase and logistics. For the avoidance of doubt, the personnel and recruitment into the force of all cadres will very soon be in force, and for our equipment and working tools, we just started taking delivery of some riot equipment, vehicles, and other fundamental tools from the Police Trust Fund,” he stated.
Earlier in his welcome address, the Commissioner of Police, Lagos State Police Command, CP Hakeem Odumosu, appreciated the IGP for the recent release of two water cannons to the Command to curb crimes and criminality in Lagos.
While promising to make judicious use of them and other arsenal provided by the IGP Odumosu, however, appealed for procurement of additional 13 Water Cannons, each, for the 13 Area Commands and at least five Gun Boats, to the 14th Area Command, which is situated along with riverine areas of the State.
The gunboats according to Odumosu, would help “to police and secure our waterways that have been experiencing heavy traffic presently due to the ongoing road constructions across the state.
In addition, the Command will appreciate the release of two Police Helicopters to the Command to assist in fortifying the aerial patrol/surveillance of the Command with a view to tactically tackling some of the crimes being experienced in the state and by extension, in the South West, as well as additional arms and ammunition to argument the little in our stock, so as to match up with the present tempo of combating crimes and criminality in the state.”
Source: Vanguard
