SALUTE TO THE INSPECTOR GENERAL OF POLICE
By: Oriaifoh Godwins
The level of indiscipline, undue process, corruption, abuse of office and rot in the Nigeria Police Force, is not new to Nigerians as many Nigerians have come to accept it as normal and some men and officers of the Police Force have been soaked into these infamous habits as they openly demand for bribes, extort innocent citizens, harass and intimidate members of the public, violate people’s rights and engage in all sorts of unruly behaviours with reckless abandonment. Yet, they are the officers of the Law.
Recently however, in the past two to three months, the current Inspector General of Police, Usman Baba appears to be determined and poised at flogging all Police officers found wanting into line hence sanitise the force as three Police officers have been de-kitted and shown the way out of the force for various indisciplinary and unprofessional conducts and this appears to be sending the right signals to all serving officers.
The first person in recent time to be shown the exit door from the Police Force was Inspector Richard Gele, with AP/Number 188547, who was attached to the Police Mobile Force 77, Squadron in Okene, Kogi state and serving at Itobe-Ayigba road. He served in the Police force for 22 years before the law of karma caught up with him. Inspector Richard was seen in a viral video on social media defending illegal collection of money from and extortion of the members of the public, saying even his superior officers are aware and approve of such. Unfortunately for him, that was his last.
In another development, Opeyemi Kadiri, a Corporal attached to the Dolphin Division Headquarter in Lagos Headquarters in Lagos was on the 3rd of August captured in a viral video searching commuters phone, a behavior considered contrary to the directive of the Inspector General of Police.
Again, Liyamo Okoi, Police Force number 524503 PC, attached to Ekori Division Headquarters in Cross Rivers state Police Command, who flogged a man with a cutlass was also de-kitted and dismissed from the Police Force; this was also captured on video and it went viral.
Apart from all the above cases, several cases of Police brutalities, misconducts, unprofessional activities and gross indiscipline has been reported and are still being investigated. This has proven beyond all reasonable doubts that the current IGP Baba Usman, is serious about white washing the Police Force. It is now left for all the Law abiding Nigerians as well as the disciplined and professional ‘good eggs’ in the Police Force to cooperate with him in achieving the task of cleaning up the Nigeria Police Force.
It is a verifiable fact that Nigeria today has worsened in terms of gross indiscipline, undue process and all the behaviours associated with it; however, the officers of the law shouldn’t be seen as falling into the category of those that have been corrupted by those bad behaviours, but this is not the case.
With the determination and will power from the leadership of the Nigeria Police Force, in no time, a number of wrongs in the Nigeria Police Force can be put right.
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