Thursday, March 28, 2024

IG: training of new squad to start

The Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Mohammed Adamu said the training for a new police unit to take over from SARS will begin next week.

Adamu spoke when musician, David Adeleke, popularly known as Davido, visited him in the company of other stars.

The new outfit, the IG said, will be intelligence-driven and properly trained to tackle violent crime such as armed robbery and kidnapping.

Adamu said the unit would be made up of new personnel with a fresh orientation and not officers from the scrapped unit.

He said opportunities would be created for the public to participate in and make inputs in the formation of the new unit.

He called for calm as the police leadership resolves all the issues.

Adamu said of SARS replacement: “It will be intelligence-driven. The personnel will be properly trained and they will not be on routine duty. They will only act on special occasions based on intelligence.

“The issue of collecting and going through people’s phones and profiling people because of their appearance or vehicles and so on would be a thing of the past. That era is gone. It is no longer acceptable.

“Anyone indulging in such would be punished. So, rest assured that the new structure will be intelligence-based to serve the citizens,” Adamu said.

The IGP promised to investigate all cases of brutality and bring perpetrators to book.

He said the issue of compensation to the families of those affected by SARS’ would be addressed when an investigation is concluded.

“We want justice to be done and justice will be done,” he said.

He said officers of the disbanded would be retrained and given other responsibilities.

“We admit the trust gap is wide but we will work to bridge that gap,” he said.

 
 

Davido said every officer who was a part of SARS should be relieved of their duties.

He said the country was agitated and he could not stand by and do nothing.

He said the people were suffering and that he had been a victim of police brutality.

Davido demanded the immediate release of all arrested protesters.

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He also called for justice for the victims of SARS brutality and compensation for their families.

The police, he said, should be better remunerated.

“They should be well-funded, have benefits and be well-insured. If they risk their lives to protect us, then they should be well taken care of,” he said.

 

He urged the protesters to give the IGP the benefit of the doubt and called for constant communication and transparency in every step taken to resolve the problem.

Adamu also met musician, Korede Bello, over the issue.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) called for a complete overhaul and restructuring of the police.

In a statement by its spokesman, Kola Ologbondiyan, the party said any indicted officer of the disbanded SARS should be punished.

The statement said: “Those who killed, maimed, dehumanized and foisted a reign of terror on innocent Nigerians must be made to answer for their devilish actions.

“Anything short of this will amount to granting official cover to felonious elements and tacit encouragement of further perpetuation of such crimes against Nigerians.

“The PDP commiserates with the families of the victims of these unprofessional elements who have brought pain and anguish to our citizens.

“However, our party, in the same vein, condoles with families of some policemen who lost their lives in the heat of this unfortunate situation.

“The PDP is mindful of the fact that our police also have professional officers and men whose patriotic effort is being detracted from by the activities of the bad eggs in the force.”

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