New Telegraph

Protect yourselves, police tell Nigerians

  • ‘Officers, men’s morale too low after EndSARS’ violence, humiliation

 

Police yesterday said the morale of officers
and men of the force was still too low to be
able to provide security for Nigerians.

 

A Divisional Police Officer (DPO), who said
this in Abuja, said Nigerians should rather find a way
to protect themselves from thugs, hoodlums and miscreants
during the Christmas and New Year celebrations.

 

The DPO, according to PRNigeria, spoke at a joint
meeting of law enforcement officers in the areas affected
by the violence which dogged the EndSARS protest.
The officer, whose name was not disclosed, said
Nigerians should not anticipate getting adequate security
from the police during the ember months and the
Yuletide.

 

The meeting, attended by officers of the Nigerian
military, security, intelligence and response agencies,
analysed how the violent assaults on innocent security
personnel during the protest significantly dampened the
morale of many servicemen and women.
“In these ember months, and up to the Christmas
period and the New Year, I doubt if any of the security
services can guarantee maximum security as usual.
There is no way we can discharge our statutory responsibilities
and function when we have become soft
targets of miscreants and violent persons,” the
DPO said.
The officer added that it would be difficult for
him to allow any of his officers and men to be
drafted to a life-threatening beat or assignment
during the Yuletide.
He said: “Our destroyed facilities are yet to be
reconstructed and rehabilitated and our looted
armouries are yet to be restocked. When our men
and women are yet to get over the humiliation
of the atrocities committed by the same people
we are charged to protect, how can we return to
our duty posts?”
Also at the meeting, a Customs officer, said “it
is unfortunate that the anti-police attitude and
hostility was also extended to other members of the law
enforcement community such as the Nigeria Customs
Service, Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), Nigeria
Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), the Correctional
Service, Vehicle Inspection Officers and even
the military, who also suffered losses in the aftermath
of the EndSARS violence”.

 

The Force Police Public Relations Officer (FPPRO),
DCP Frank Mba, neither picked his calls nor responded
to a text message for his to confirm whether the police
were reluctant or not to provide security for Nigerians
during and after the Yuletide.

 

However, after the protest, which led to the loss of
lives, including that of the police personnel, the Inspector-
General of Police (IG), Mohammed Adamu, directed
policemen to henceforth, protect themselves against any
attack by hoodlums.

The IG gave the directives during an on-the-spot-assessment
of the security situation in the Federal Capital
Territory (FCT).

 

He said: “If anybody touches or assaults you, you can
also protect yourself.”

 

Despite this, however, police personnel, who preferred
anonymity, said they were still sceptical of returning
to their duty posts, especially in volatile areas.

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