The Lagos State Police Command image
maker, Joseph Offor, has said that any policeman who killed civilians, no
matter the cop rank or status, will not go unpunished.
Speaking with our correspondent,
Offor said that no policeman was given arms without passing through rigors of
arm-handling tests.
The police image maker blamed incidents
of extra judicial killings and accidental gun discharges by policemen on
negative mindsets.
Offor, a Deputy Superintendent Police
(DSP), was speaking against the backdrop of recent killings by some police
officers.
The DSP recalled the shooting and
killing of Comfort Idongesit Ekpo, by Corporal Muse Aremu. There was also the
shooting and killing Beauty Macleod, a rising superstar tennis player in
Nigeria, who was mowed down by a policeman. He also remembered a commercial
bus driver, who was killed by a policeman at Second Rainbow, Mile 2, Lagos.
According to Offor, the police will
not harbour deviants. He stressed that killers cops would be made to face the
wrath of the law.
He further said: “Our internal
mechanism is at alert to fish out erring officers. It’s not for lack of adequate
training on arms handling, but it’s a thing of negative mindset on the part of
some officers. Police cannot give any officer gun without subjecting him to
rigors of gun handling training. When you pass out of Police College, you must
undergo special arms training on how to handle guns so that it doesn’t kill you
or others. It’s a continuous process.”
The PPRO said that in addition to
special arms training, every police officer was taught the basics of respect for
human rights.
“The police have produced a
manual on human rights. Every police officer has it. We have United Nations
convention on torture, African treaty on People’s Right and Extra Judicial
killings. Any policeman who deviates on these must face the law.”
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