The Assistant-Inspector of Police, AIG Babaita Ishola has promised that the Force will combat the trend of citizen brutality by officers through new training curriculum for recruits.
This he said would enhance citizen-focused policing.
Babaita who is the Assistant Inspector-
General of Police, Zone 8 Headquarters, Lokoja, made the promise during his familiarisation visit to Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, North Central Nigeria.
He lamented that incivility among the officers of the Force on members of the public who he described as their employers to whom they should be answerable.
Babaita said; “Incivility to the members of the public by the Police Officers is on the high side, we should not forget that Police officers are servants to the general public; we are called to serve not to rule or oppress the public.
“The public are our employer and we must be 100% answerable to them lawfully according to the Constitution of the country that created the Police Force.”
The AIG also spoke on the need for encouragement of community policing, saying; “Police officers must be conscious of their immediate community, in other words, Community Policing should be encouraged for successful nip down of criminals in our society.”
He, however, stressed that the administration of the Acting Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun is set to stamp out the trend of police brutality by refining the perception of the officers to concepts of human rights, rule of law, and citizen-focused policing through the Nigeria Police training curriculum.
He further said that the new curriculum would have a “special focus on attitudinal and behavioral changes for new recruits as well as re-orientation programmes for serving officers will be produced with inbuilt tests designed to weed out individuals with negative mentality and a high tendency for violence from amongst recruits.”
Babaita, while speaking on security challenges faced by some schools in the country said that the Police is set to set up a special squad to be known as the Schools Protection Squad, SPS, that will serve as an intervention unit to curb the menace.
He noted that the Programme which would soon take off would be of immense assistance in protecting the schools both the elementary and the tertiary schools across the country.
“The safety of schools and educational institutions is of key concern to the Police, which will continue to use all available human and material resources to mitigate the heightened danger students, staff, and educational facilities/Institutions are exposed to in the country in recent times.
“In order to have a more focused and robust response to the existing challenge of constant attacks on educational institutions, culminating in the abduction of students, the Police has marshaled an action plan and designed a couple of strategies
(both kinetic and non-kinetic) to prevent or checkmate such incidences from being a recurrent challenge in our polity,” he said.
Babaita, also promised the officers of Kwara command that the new acting IG Egbetokun would prioritise the welfare and well-being of the Police Force, risking their lives to protect the communities.
He said “the IG has promised improved welfare for the police officers and ensure they have the resources, training, and support necessary to carry out their duties with utmost professionalism within the ambit of the law.”
Babaita said; “Our physical and mental well-being will be his priority, for we are the true custodians of peace. To this end, the administration will intensify collaboration with relevant stakeholders for the resuscitation of the Police Officer Support Unit (POSU) of the Police Medical services which will serve as a confidential support and counseling facility for all police officers.
“Its services will be online, telephone-based, as well as in-person to assist officers to better cope with all forms of traumas and other challenges faced daily,” he noted.
He further promised that the force would improve its service delivery with the use of Modern technology to adapt to the evolving landscape of crime as criminals today are more sophisticated, more organised, and more ruthless than ever before.
“The force shall embrace innovation and technology as powerful allies in our fight against crime. The world is evolving at an unprecedented pace, and so we must adapt to the evolving landscape of crime. Criminals today are more sophisticated, more organised, and more ruthless than ever before.
“We will further leverage cutting-edge tools, data analytics, and intelligence networks to stay one step ahead of those who seek to disrupt the peace. This we will do through a robust and effective human and technical intelligence gathering process to enhance our capacity,” Babaita explained.
He said; “By harnessing the power of technology, we can make our streets safer, our investigations more efficient, and our communities more resilient.”
In her own remarks, the Kwara State Commissioner of Police, Ebunoluwarotimi Adelesi thanked the AIG for paying a visit to the State command.
She lauded the effort of the officers of the command who are working tirelessly to ensure the security of the State saying; “Kwara State is bordered by local and international boundaries, making it susceptible to both local and cross-border criminality.”
She noted that the working synergy between sister agencies in the state has helped to curtail the influx of criminals into the State.
The Police boss added that the Command under her watch has been able to combat the prevalent menaces of cultism and kidnappings with uncommon vigor and with the support of the people and the determination of the officers.
Mercy Chukwudiebere
