The Assistant Inspector-General of Police (AIG) in charge of Zone 2 (Lagos and Ogun), Adeleke Adeyinka Bode, has warned police officers against the brutality of Nigerians, saying another #EndSARS protest may lead to the end of the Nigerian police.
Bode gave the warning while addressing the operatives of the Ogun State Police Command during his visit to the command headquarters in Abeokuta, the state capital on Thursday.
The #EndSARS protest, which led to the disbanding of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), a unit of the Nigeria Police Force with a long record of abuse on Nigerians, saw a lot of police officers and stations attacked and razed in the country in October 2020.
Speaking on Thursday, Bode warned the police officers to be more professional and civil while dealing with members of the public to avoid a repeat of nationwide protest such as #EndSARS.
“Another #EndSARS may lead to the end of the police.
“The criminals that perpetrated that act that time are going to come out more experienced. The mistakes they made then, they are not going to make them now and that is why your conduct towards the members of the public must effective,” he said.
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He further lamented the high rate of cultism among police officers, warning them against misconduct and other acts that may trigger civil unrest.
Bode also charged the Ogun State Commissioner of Police, Lanre Bankole, to fish out officers involved in cultism and cybercrime, who according to him were giving the police a bad name.
“If you (police officer) are a cultist I don’t think you should show it to people because it is wrong and do you know why, it is wrong even if you are not wicked.
“If you belong to a cult group there is no way you are not going to favour a member of your cult unless you are not a good cult member.
“A situation where a police officer is a member of a cult group and people in the society know that he is a cultist, his activities are related to cultism, I think it is sad.
“There are some of our policemen too now that are into cybercrime, popularly known as Yahoo Yahoo, especially policemen who find themselves in places where we have institutions of higher learning, it is very common. You (commissioner) need to fish them out and you need to preach to them,” the AIG stated.
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