Leadership (Abuja)
Esther Eziashi
13 January 2009
Abuja — Minister of Police Affairs, Dr. Ibrahim Lame yesterday said that as far as the federal government was the case of the former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Mr. Nuhu Ribadu has been put to rest.
Dr. Ibrahim Lame who made this known at an interactive session with Senior Police Officers at the force Headquarters.
He explained that government would not condone indiscipline in the police force.
The minister also revealed that government intends to upgrade the Police Academy, Kano to a degree awarding institution to enable police graduates compete academically with their comptemporaries in other forces and the society larger.
Ibrahim Lame stated that the recruitment policy of this administration will ensure only qualified members of the public are recruited into the force, adding that police must cease to be a dumping ground.
The minister explained that government frowns at the rate at which police officers are being attached to private individuals in the society, warning that, henceforth, unprofessional attitude of the force has to stop.
He, therefore, directed immediate withdrawal of all police officers attached to private individuals without due authorisaiton, adding that the IGP should look into how registered private security provide the needs of such private individuals.
He warned that any policemen caught extorting money from members of the public will be dismissed and prosecuted.
The minister said, "The government will in no distant time conduct a manpower audit of the force to fish out unscrupulous and unqualified persons. It has been noted that the rationalization of 10,000 police officers by the last administration was fraught with irregularities. This administration will oversee a transparent manpower audit, where only the bad eggs in the force will be shown the way out."
Dr. Ibrahim Lame directed that only motorized patrols and surveillance techniques are used for crime prevention and control on our highways, adding that there should be no more 'road blocks,' rather, "we should have stop and search."
According to him, the direction of the ministry is to create a conducive atmosphere for the police transform into a symbol of security, hope and trust.
The minister, therefore, charged the police to evolve and design strategies to checkmate crimes like kidnapping, assassination, threat messages on GSM, etc.
Earlier, the Inspector-General of Police, Sir Mike Okiro, said that only two out of the existing 25 banks have so far complied with his earlier directive that only banks that have acquire bomb-proof, fire-proof and bullet-proof bullion vans will be given police escort.
Okiro revealed that out of 353 cases of kidnapping in 2008, only two victims lost their lives.
He said that measures were in place to ensure that crimes like kidnapping, bank robberies and assassination are adequately addressed and contained.
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