Moshood Adebayo
Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mohammed Abubakar Adamu, declared in Lagos, yesterday, that any officer who engages in extrajudicial killings would be prosecuted.
The IGP added that such officer should be ready to face the wrath of the law.
Adamu said this when he met with Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, at the Government House, Alausa, Ikeja, yesterday.
“I came to Lagos to talk to the officers, basically, to ensure they embrace good behaviours. I also reminded them to embrace the ethics of the job, which is to serve the public. We are servants and not masters of the people. The officers have been doing a good job, fighting crime in the state. But, the act of few in Lagos is denting the good job others have done.
“Recently, we’ve had cases where some police officers went out of their way to shoot a lady who later died. We felt such is unacceptable and unbecoming of the police officers in the state; that is why I decided to come and talk to the police officers, reminding them of their duties.
“I also remind them that anyone who engages in extrajudicial killing is on his own. He’ll face the wrath of the law,” he said.
On his part, the governor lamented what he described as inadequacy of the police and noted that a situation where 33, 000 personnel are made to police 24 million people is inappropriate. Ambode said they might have been overstretched.
The governor commended the police for their efforts in the state and recalled that under his administration, he has had three commissioners of police, and “they have been very effective towards the actualisation of our goals.
“When we assumed office in 2015, our government was based on a tripod, namely, security, job creation and infrastructure development. It is on record that the police have been very effective in the actualisation of one of the tripod, and there has been improvement in security of life and property in the state.
“I must commend you for coming promptly to address extrajudicial killings in Lagos. We had issues of Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) officers killing (Kolade Johnson) and the other that took place at the weekend.
“These issues relate to human feelings and I must commend you for coming to the state to address public opinion about SARS.
“We know that the Nigerian police officers are under pressure, because, to ask 33,000 police officers to police 24 million people, it is obvious they will be over stretched,” the governor said.
He commended the police boss for coming to Lagos to address the issue of extrajudicial killings, assuring that his administration will continue to support police to do their job and ensure they have human feeling and uphold peace.
“I empathise with the IGP, because he has to travel to different states, weekly, to address security issues in the country. Policing Nigeria is a big challenge, but, he is up to the task. We believe whatever we’ve done to keep Lagos safe, my successor will continue with that,’’ the governor said.