President of the Association
of Industrial Security and Safety Operators of Nigeria (AISSON), Dr. Ona Ekhomu
has called on the Federal Government (FG) to initiate urgent reforms of the
Nigeria Police Force (NPF) to save police lives, reports ITRealms.
Reacting to the killing of
seven gallant officers at Galadimawa, recently, he urged the Inspector-General
of Police, Mr. Idris to deploy his best investigative assets – human and
technical to detect the actual perpetrators.
He also said reforms were
overdue as evidenced by the rise in killings all over the country, intentional
targeting of law enforcement officers and extremely high fear index in the
country.
Dr. Ekhomu who mourned the
killed police officers, advised the Nigerian media to honor and humanize the dead
police heroes by identifying them, showing their pictures and telling stories
about who they were and what they liked and what their goals in life were. He said: “Nigerians deserve to know who these
heroes were.
“No hero serving his
fatherland should be left behind in the field of battle. All heroes are heroes”
he declared, stressing that these men laid down their lives so the rest of us
can live in a civilized society and must be honored for their sacrifice.
He called for a special tips
hotline to take information on the police murders, urging the police management
to provide a bounty of N20million for information leading to the arrest and
prosecution of the perpetrators. “The
killers are out there and somebody knows them.
In the sub-culture of crime, they brag about these gory incidents. Someone somewhere has this information but
does not know how to get it to the authorities,” he added.
Ekhomu who is a Security
and Criminology lecturer in the University of Lagos said that the proposed
police reforms must be aimed at transforming the security institution from its
current dysfunctional state into an agency that can play an effective,
legitimate and democratically accountable role in providing effective and
measurable security services to Nigerians.
He described the current
internal security architecture as defective and decayed. As the primary
internal security organ, the police agency must reform to achieve its
constitutional mandate of ensuring security for Nigerians. He said that
service, integrity and professionalism must become the guiding principles of
policing to regain public trust and respect.
He said that current
police structures and processes need to be studied and improved for greater
performance. He advised that reforms must be teleological and not hodge-podge.
He advised that Police reforms must balance the challenges of insecurity with
the needs of development and the imperatives of human rights. He said that the
NPF must continue to be depoliticized despite the government in power.
Ekhomu advised all policemen
to display a keener sense of security awareness as they are exposed to vicious
criminals who appear intent on spilling police blood.
He advised policemen on
street duty to be professional, courteous and shun corrupt practices. He advised uniformed policemen to be well
turned out, be well-behaved, be attentive and know that they are constantly
being observed by members of the public.
He advised policemen not
to be careless with their personal security as life has no duplicate.
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