The Nigeria Police Force has vowed that it will no longer tolerate any assault on his officers and men let alone killing any officer, no matter the situation.
The Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, who gave the warning in Enugu State on Friday, during his official visit to the Enugu State Command, unequivocally stated that there must be appropriate response from the Force.
“We will not tolerate any assault on our police officers not to talk of killing. An assault on a policeman is criminal, is an assault on the IGP and we are not going to kindly any act of assault on our officers not talk of killing any of our officers.
“Anywhere there is killing of any policeman you must all respond collectively and appropriately. There must be appropriate response from us. Where a policeman is assaulted, there must be appropriate response to it.
“We will not tolerate it anymore. In this year 2025, we are going to say no to assault on our officers. We are going to say no, capital no to killing of any of our men,” he insisted.
Egbetokun promised that the Force was working with the Nigerian government to address the welfare of its personnel.
Although he raised concerns over few police officers and men who are tarnishing the image of the Force, he commended the policemen in Enugu State for their professional conduct in discharging their duties.
He said: “I want to assure you officers and men of Enugu State command that we recognise the good job that you are doing. You are very hard working. You are committed. You are diligent in the discharge of your duties.
“I have met the governor earlier on and he was full of praises for officers and men of this command. I am super proud of your achievements and your conduct generally.
“I also want to tell you that as very good that you have been doing, there are still few bad eggs among you that are giving us concerns.
“We are going to talk about that one when we have our family meeting. This year 2025 we are going to approach this year with determination. Determination to stamp out criminals. The ones that have been chased away will not be allowed to come back and I am going to support this command with everything, every resources that are in our disposal.
“So that the achievements that you have recorded will not be tampered with, you’re going to record more achievements in this year 2025.
“In this year we are going to vigorously pursue our policing version for Nigeria. We will emphasise professionalism. We will emphasise ethical conduct of our officers. We will emphasise training and retraining of our officers.
“We will equip you with modern policing tools to discharge your duties effectively. We will also look after your welfare. The Federal Government of Nigeria is passionate about the welfare of police officers in Nigeria. Mr President recognises the sacrifices that you make and he’s very concerned about you.
“There is a lot of things that we are working out together that I don’t want to announce in public now but by the time all this welfare programmes start unfolding you just be quiet with it. It’s not just something we want the public to know about as at now but please be assured and don’t be persuaded by the enemies of the police to make you believe that your welfare is neglected.
“No IGP will neglect the welfare of his officers and men. I have read in social media all kinds of things being posted by mischievous people, mischief makers, there’s a recent one that is circulating that they said that IG said that any policeman who asked for your phone, you should beat him up. You can see that this is the handiwork of enemies.”
