Mohammed Adamu, inspector general
of police, says supervisors of trigger-happy police officers will be held
liable for the infractions of those under their command.
Adamu spoke during an interactive
session with officers-in-charge of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS),
anti-kidnapping squad and other special units on Thursday.
The IGP issued the warning in
respect of the recent killings by trigger-happy police officers.
SARS has been accused of
indiscriminate killings on different occasions and Nigerians have repeatedly
called for the disbandment of the unit.
Most recently, Kolade Johnson, a
resident of the Mangoro area of Lagos, was killed in March by stray bullets
fired by a SARS operative.
Adamu said the killings have
caused Nigerians to lose trust and confidence in the security unit.
“It has become imperative to have
this interactive session with you because of the need to address concerns on
the rising rate of armed robberies, kidnappings, banditry and other violent
crimes in the country,” Adamu said.
“Within this context, we must
also address issues touching on the abuse of powers, misuse of firearms and
other extra-judicial actions by personnel in your Units.
“Let me re-emphasise here, once
again, that our primary responsibility is to protect the lives and property of
the citizens we were engaged to serve. Indeed, these unprofessional actions
have led to lack of confidence and trust in the police and this impact on our
crime prevention capacity.
“Again, let me sound a note of
warning here as I have done in various fora, that any officer that is involved
in extra-judicial killing and abuse of power will be held accountable for his
action and risks losing his job and facing criminal prosecution. Furthermore,
you as the line supervisors of such erring officers shall be held vicariously
liable for supervisory negligence be similarly sanctioned.”
The police recently released some
tips for motorists to abide by when approaching a security checkpoint or when
flagged-down by police officers in order to avoid problems.
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