At the event, outstanding police officers who distinguished themselves in their duties were honoured.
By Ishaya Ibrahim, News Editor
The Lagos State Police Commissioner, Abiodun Alabi, has asked residents of the state to stop giving police officers bribe as doing so make them partners in crime.
Alabi made this appeal while as the keynote speaker at the Lagos State Stakeholders’ Forum on Police Accountability (SFPA).
He said the public encourages police officers to be extortionists by giving them bribe.
Citing example with himself, Alabi said: “I have told my officers to go and investigate me. I have never demanded money from anybody. If you don’t give that money, your person will still be released on bail,” he said.
He observed that the quick resort to paying for bail is due to the lethargy of members of the public in fighting for their right.
At the event, outstanding police officers who distinguished themselves in their duties were honoured. They include;
- ACP Taiwo Kasumu, for upholding professional policing standards and outstanding performance while as DPO Igando Division between July 2018 and December 2020.
- CSP Abubakar Aliyu, former O/C, X-Squad was also recognized for ‘’Effective Community Engagement and Upholding Police Accountability’’ as O/C, X-Squad, Lagos State Police Command (June 2018 – July 2021).
- CSP Patricia Amadin, DPO Anthony Division was also recognized for ‘’Effective Community Engagement, Courageous and Exceptional Performance, as DPO Anthony Division, Lagos State Police Command.
- ASP Adeyemo Ogunyemi former DCO Eruwa Police Station, Oyo State Police Command for Exhibiting Uncommon Professionalism and Restraint in the Face of a Provocative Attack while on duty (January 2020 -August 2020). He received 13 slaps from a woman, and cautioned hitting her.
RULAAC executive director, Okechukwu Nwanguma, said SFPA resolved to honour these deserving officers with awards as its modest means and gesture to commend them, to hold them up as models for professional policing, and to encourage them and others to stay on the path of professionalism and integrity.
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Nwanguma commended the Police IG, Usman Baba Alkali, for sanitizing the police with the wave of dismissal of delinquent police officers.
He said in less than two weeks between July 29 and August 8, 2022, no less than 3 police officers have gone through Orderly Room Trials and dismissed on account of their involvement in various acts of misconduct.
“The prompt and decisive disciplinary actions taken against these officers on the directives of the IGP is an indication of increased determination by the IGP to combat impunity for corrupt practices and unprofessional conducts in the NPF,” he said.
He said while the disciplinary measures against erring officers is important, some of the root causes of police misconduct should also be addressed.
“A 2010 report by Human Rights Watch entitled ‘Everyone’s in on the Game: Corruption and Human Rights Abuses by the Nigeria Police Force’ documents the myriad forms of police corruption in Nigeria. It also shows how institutionalized extortion, a profound lack of political will to reform the force, and impunity combine to make police corruption a deeply embedded problem.
“There is a preponderance of opinion that some of the bad behaviors by junior officers are carried out at the instigation and/or orders of some of their superiors or supervisors. When they get caught, their complicit superiors abandon them to their fate or are unable to protect them from repercussions, and they become scapegoats while their superiors go scot free. Many believe that this is why those mainly affected are the junior ranks. This is probably why the Amnesty International, in one of its reports said corruption at the top makes change difficult at the lowest levels,” he said.
A Board of Trustees member of RULAAC and executive director of Crime Victim Foundation, Gloria Egbuji, said police officers put their lives in the line in their work to protect society, but regretted that some of them abuse their constitutional powers.
She said her work is to make police better, and that since change takes time, continuous engagement with the police would drive home that change.
A representative of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Nneka U Anigbo, who represented the South West coordinator, Lucas Koyejo said records have shown that police community engagement in Lagos State presents one of the most effective ways of reducing crimes and enhancing respect for human rights.
She added that Police Accountability Forum has strived over the years to ensure that the public interface with the police in addressing some critical issues which often arise in the course of daily lives.
