Featured, Security
By Anayo Ezugwu
MOHAMMED Adamu, Inspector General of Police, IGP, has insisted that the Nigeria police under his leadership will no longer tolerate abuses associated with the police. He said all the operatives of the Federal and State Special Anti-Robbery Squads, Intelligence Response Team, Special Tactical Squad and any other unit of the force that operates in mufti had been banned from routine patrols on the highways and streets.
In his address to police personnel deployed on election security duty for the Ondo State Gubernatorial Election, Adamu said their operational deployments would be limited to responses to specific security breaches, including armed robbery, kidnapping or other violent incidents. He said in such instance, they should be expressly authorized by the appropriate police authority.
Adamu re-emphasized that operatives of the Federal and State Special Anti-Robbery Squads, Intelligence Response Team, Special Tactical Squad and any other Unit of the Force that operates in mufti are also banned from engaging in conventional, low-risk duties, including stop and search, mounting checkpoints or roadblocks, undertaking traffic duties and other functions which are within the purview of the uniformed conventional police detachments.
“The indiscriminate, unauthorised and degrading search of mobile phones, laptops and other smart electronic devices of citizens by all police personnel is hereby banned. The only exception is if such an act is in furtherance to a specific case that has been reported and is a subject of criminal investigation in specific Police Station or Unit. In which case, due process must be followed by the investigating team. All recent cases of abuses of power and violation of rights of citizens by FSARS, SARS, IRT, STS and other police teams shall be investigated, and any personnel found culpable shall be appropriately dealt with.
“In order to coordinate compliance with these directives, I have ordered the immediate deployment of the X-Squad and IGP Monitoring Unit to all Commands with a clear directive that any erring personnel be apprehended and dealt with within the dictates of the Force disciplinary process and the law. A signal to this effect has been circulated to all Police Commands and Formations. The choice now is for each officer to either resolve to perform his or her duties within extant rules, laws and policies or be prepared to be shown the way out of the system,” he said.
Adamu insisted that the Nigeria Police remains a disciplined organization that strives to advance its covenant with the citizens in relation to protecting their lives and property and safeguarding them against any form of threat, extortionist tendency or degrading treatment. He, therefore, reinforced the extant Force Accountability Policy which holds any officer professionally and criminally liable for the consequences of their actions.
“I am, therefore, sounding this note of warning loudly and clearly that henceforth, any police personnel that insists on being incorrigible by engaging in abuse of his or her powers in a manner that degrades, endangers, or threatens the life and other fundamental rights of the citizens shall be promptly arrested, processed through our internal disciplinary machinery and if found culpable, shall be dismissed from service. In addition, such personnel could be charged to court in consonance with their level of criminal liability in the instance,” he said.
– Oct. 6, 2020 @ 17:12 GMT |
Tags: IGP insists on ban of FSARS
