Kwara State Police command has said that it dismissed six police officers for various forms of misconduct in four months.
Speaking during stakeholders meeting with the leadership of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN), Tricycle Owners Association of Nigeria (TOAN), hotel owners association, Okada riders association, students’ union leaders, and human rights activists in the state, the state commissioner of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, said that he approved the dismissal of another police officer on Wednesday for professional misconduct.
The police boss, who said that his command did not condone indiscipline among its officers, added that many police officers had been served various forms of punishment.
The commissioner said that, though, the SARS had been disbanded, added that the command recorded 15 armed robbery cases between May and October with the arrest of 27 suspects and recovery of 15 AK-47 rifles.
He said that the state had not witnessed cases of police extra-judicial killing, brutality and harassment, adding that cases of police extortion had reduced drastically.
Egbetokun, who appealed to the stakeholders to talk with their members on the need to maintain existing peace and harmony in the state, said he was proud of peaceful conduct exhibited so far by the youth in the state during #EndSARS protest.
“Please, talk with your men not to copy what’s happening elsewhere in the country, particularly, as it concerned current spate of insecurity in many parts of the country. You can see that it is longer#EndSARS protest again with the level of destruction and looting going on in some places in the country. It looks like a new agenda by the criminal elements. They loot armoury to get gun in order to commit atrocities after this time. We should discourage that and be careful with kind of information we access on social media. Fake reports that can cause disunity and chaos are being circulated. We have to be careful,” he said.
Some of the stakeholders who responded to the speech of the police commissioner at the meeting called for open prosecution of erring officers, and public announcement on dismissed ones.
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Others also advised that desk officer for youth and students should be established in the police command for a cordial relationship, as well as youth/police relations committee and regular stakeholders meeting