The Kwara State Commissioner of Police, Ebunoluwarotimi Adelesi has launched a book titled “Functional Police Memo” in Ilorin the State capital, North Central Nigeria.
Speaking at the book launch, the retiring Police boss explained that the security challenges she experienced necessitated her decision to write the book.
According to her, the journey of securing the state as the police chief had been daunting.
“I must make this categorical statement that the journey has not been so smooth, especially, when the challenges are skyrocketing. I am glad that as an experienced officer, I was prepared for the task,” she said.
Nigeria’s former Ambassador to the Netherlands, Dr Nimota Akanbi said that the event was a celebration of Womanhood in the country.
Akanbi said she was “particularly happy because it is yet another leap and a great achievement for womanhood in the country.”
“Putting a book together is no mean a task. So, I want to say a big kudos to this great author, especially the issues addressed in the book which can be termed a professional publication, as the author shared her wealth of experience over the years in the service of our dear country through policing.
“To my dear CP Adelesi, your commitment to raising the bars and breaking the ceilings for young girls and womanhood both in everyday life and in the profession is no easy task, please don’t relent. You can never imagine the kind of positive impact your efforts have yielded, still yielding and will continue to yield,” she said.
In his remarks at the ceremony, the State Governor, Mallam AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, who was represented by the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Yakubu Salihu, described the lecture as timely.
The Governor noted that “the security challenges in the State have reached their peak.”
In his lecture, a Security expert, Dr. Oluwadare Ojo, explained reasons that can make police officers arrest with or without a warrant.
Dr. Ojo, a lecturer at the Institute of Security, Nigeria, University of Lagos (UNILAG), said that a “police officer could be arrested without a warrant if an offense was committed in his presence.”
Ojo, who was the facilitator/reviewer of the book, explained that “the authority given to a police officer to arrest a person who commits an offense in his presence shall be exercisable in respect of offenses committed in such officers’ presence notwithstanding that the written law creating the offense provides the offense that the offender cannot be arrested without a warrant.
“From the above, a police officer may arrest a person without a warrant for committing a misdemeanour or gross misdemeanour only when the offense is committed in the presence of him/her.
“In addition to this, a police officer can arrest without a warrant when a wanted criminal/suspect is found.
“Just like police officers, a private person can arrest any person without a warrant, where a private person has a reasonable support of a person in the commission of an offense, he can arrest and hand over the suspect to the police or take him to the police station.”
Continuing, the security expert said that “arrest and detainment of a suspect by the police and other law enforcement agencies in Nigeria do not stop suspects of their rights.
“There are constitutionally protected rights of every suspect in police custody which should not be violated or breached.
“A suspect shall not be subjected to torture, inhuman or degrading treatment while in police custody,” Ojo said.
Mercy Chukwudiebere
