by
Following his appointment as the 21st Indigenous Inspector-General of Police on April 6, 2021, by President Muhammadu Buhari, IGP Usman Alkali Baba, psc (+), NPM, fdc has displayed some level of integrity and commitment towards upholding the policies and standards of the Police in the country.
Baba who replaced Mohammed Adamu who retired in February 2021 was a Deputy inspector-General of Police, force criminal investigation department, force headquarters. In one of his first outings during the decoration of nine (9) newly promoted Assistant Inspectors-General of Police (AIGs) and twenty-three (23) newly promoted Commissioners of Police at the Force Headquarters, Abuja, the Police boss called on officers to exhibit a higher level of loyalty, courage, incorruptible disposition, and professional competence in the discharge of policing services.
Having mentioned this to his men, IGP Baba remained steadfast in ensuring that no stone will be left unturned. Apart from the improvement in maintaining peace and order in the nation, he also purposed to conduct an in-house sanitization process so as to retain the perceived lost image of the Police. This sanitization of the Police has witnessed a huge success as reports of firing men of the Police Force found wanting has been on the media.
In April 2021, three officers were dismissed for allegedly extorting students of Lagos State University, LASU, in April 2022, nine were fired for mobilizing colleagues in strike action. Ten others were sent away in Lagos for murder, corruption and other related offences. Again, in July 2022 another officer was discharged for justifying extortion in a viral video.
Recently, the Force dismissed Force No. 524503 PC Liyomo Okoi attached to Ekori Divisional Headquarters, Cross River Police Command for gross misconduct captured in a viral video on July 31, 2022 where he was flogging a man with a machete. While Force No. 509745 Corporal Opeyemi Kadiri attached to Dolphin Divisional Headquarters, Lagos Police Command was sacked for gross misconduct, disobedience to lawful order, and assault on a member of the public captured in a viral video on August 3, 2022. Report has it that he equally assaulted the commuter who attempted to bring the order to his notice.
The list remains endless. And you will also recall that the federal government heeded to demands of protesters asking for resignation and prosecution of guilty police officers. The Presidential Panel on Reform of SARS recommended 37 police officers for dismissal and 24 for prosecution following 113 complaints on alleged human rights violations from across the country. Abayomi Shogunle, a former Head of the Public Complaint Rapid Response Unit (PCRRU), and a former Police Public Relations Officer, Lagos State Command, Dolapo Badmos were also demoted.
While the Police leadership is appreciated for these onerous efforts to restore order and dignity to the police profession. And it shows that Nigerians can now put their trust in the services of the Police. This is indeed highly commendable and the IGP should continue with this as it will bring total sanity and reformation in the system.
However, while the move is worthy of praise the next is to watch the dismissed officers very closely to stop the possibility of transforming to an armed robber, bandit and or, kidnapper. This is a fact that no one can rule out as the tendency to share intelligence with miscreants out of frustration is likely to be high.
The IGP is therefore urged to put some parameters on ground to watch out for this so that his works will not be exasperated and translated into a situation that will now hunt and become a security threat to the nation. Another way of handling this is to look out for other ways to sanction these bag eggs if the former may seem so difficult.
So while we chant for joy because the right thing is being done, there is an urgent need to consider the other side of the coin, weigh the pros and cons for anything that is worth doing is worth doing well.
