The Assistant Inspector General of Police in charge of Zone 2 Command Headquarters, AIG Ahmed Iliyasu, has called on officers of his command to return to policing the communities in Lagos and Ogun States.
Motivating them, AIG Iliyasu said the officers should put the past behind them in the spirit of nationhood and assiduously work to correct the negative perception about police officers and policing.
“We must have a change of attitude to our duty and put the people as the centre point of our policing,” he said.The police boss made this known during a motivational workshop and community policing for quality service delivery, at the Nigeria Police Force Zone 2, Onikan on Tuesday.
He emphasised that policing strategy should be people-centred, satisfactory and good enough to remove fear and uncertainty in the minds of the people anytime they have contact with the police.
The workshop was organised in line with the community policing intervention of the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, with AIG Iliyasu noting that policing can be done in a manner that does the least harms and even prevent violence.
A security expert, Ona Ekhomu, in his paper titled ‘#EndSARS: Mass action and the governance of internal security in Lagos’ identified that wanton destruction and looting in the aftermath of the protest was not targeted at the police but based on the obvious fact that the attacks were specifically against the Federal Government.
According to him, the hoodlums attacked the police as an observable and exploitable arm of government. Ekhomu said the police only bore the brunt of governance issues, ranging from poor remuneration of policemen, unemployment of youths, hunger in the land, poverty, anger, and inequality, which are not under the control of the force.
He said: “It was convenient for the hoodlums to attack the police as the nearest representative of government. When people are angry, they lash out at anything close by, wives, children, drivers, workers, pets, anything. It is a psychological compensational mechanism after which they feel better.”
He however pleaded with the security personnel to go back to work “to make your communities safe. Like we say, without security nothing works.”
He acknowledged the various state governments’ overtures to assist families of fallen or injured officers. Particularly full of commendation for the AIG’s dedication to public service, zeal to serve his community and the nation, the National President of the Association of Industrial Security and Safety Operators 0f Nigeria (AISSON) also conferred on the police chief the honour of being a Fellow of AISSON.
One of the brains behind the workshop and chairman of PCRC Victoria Island, Matthew Ibadin, said the programme has given the police officers a reason to smile again and police the state, noting that given the right incentives, especially with regards to their welfare package, equipment and all that is commensurate with policing in advance countries, the police force will keep lives and properties safe.
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