Arrest ‘Yahoo’ offenders,’ but don’t threaten innocent citizens —Buhari tells Police

President Muhammadu Buhari warned Nigerian police officers and men against harassing youth in their bid to arrest ‘ Yahoo criminals. ‘
 
Buhari issued this warning in his keynote address at the opening ceremony of the Lagos Senior Police Officers Conference and Retreat on Monday.
 
The theme of the retreat is titled, ‘Repositioning the Force for the Challenges of Effective Policing in the 21st Century.’
 
Represented by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Buhari said that the service provided by the Police Force was one Nigerians could not do without, as it was closest to the grassroots.
 
According to him, police stations are everywhere and the police serve law and order to the ordinary Nigerian above every other operation.
 
“Which is why the police cannot escape public scrutiny and sometimes criticism; Nigerian people old and young want our Police force to be better and to do better; they want to be even prouder of your service than ever before.
 
“This is why in some of our urban areas we want to see more compliance with the rule of law and in dealing with Nigerians.
 
“Recently many civil society groups have complained about the arrest of young men and women just because they look successful and are carrying laptops.
 
“Yes we must apprehend yahoo criminals but we cannot harass young men and women on the streets and in taxis most of whom are merely going about their legitimate businesses.
 
“There are also cases of extra judicial killings and injuries; misuse of weapons and excessive use of force by some members of the force.
 
“ This sort of conduct by a few bad police officers must stop; and it is the duty of you senior and strategic leaders of the Police force to ensure that impunity of any kind is discouraged and punished where it is found.’’
 
Buhari said the police force in Nigeria was one of the most proud national assets as it was Africa’s largest police force.
 
He said the force had some of the men and women who were best trained and best educated.
 
The president said Nigerian police officers had served with outstanding results locally and internationally.
 
“The Nigeria police force led police peace keeping activities in Congo, Namibia,Angola,Western Sahara,Somalia , Liberia, Sierra Leone, Bosnia Herzegovina , Croatia, Afghanistan, Kosovo, East Timor.
 
“Locally in the past one year alone the Nigeria police has between January and this month arrested over ;2,348 Armed Robbery suspects – 1,412 Suspected kidnappers 694 Murder Suspects, 1,513 Cultists safely rescued 826 Kidnap victims, recovered-1,660 firearms and 1612 vehicles.
 
“In the course of duty so many have paid the supreme price; while fighting off robbers, kidnappers and other criminals many have been maimed for life.’’
 
He said that unique trainings were being composed for the Special Units of the Police including the Police Mobile Force, Special Forces, Counter-Terrorism Unit, Anti-Robbery detachments, Anti-Kidnapping Squads and the Criminal Investigation.
 
The president said that assets had been placed into getting and sending electro-muscular disruption technology-based weaponry which is generally known as Taser or Stun Guns for okay police activities.
 
As per him, the Federal government has encouraged the section of the Police Trust Fund (Establishment) Act, which has since consented.
 
“ I understand that the Minister of Police Affairs is now working closely with the Inspector-General of Police to ensure the smooth take off of the Fund.
 
“Furthermore, our effort in embracing community policing as a national security strategy is also informed by the need to close the trust gap between the Police and the citizens, build partnership and strengthen collaboration with communities towards addressing prevalent security threats.
 
“We have made steady progress in this regard. An important part of the strategy is to recruit new personnel from within local governments and ensure that after training such new police officers remain within their local government. Policing must as much as possible be local.
 
“It is also within this context that the Federal government approved the recruitment of 10,000 junior cadre officers into the Nigeria Police on an annual basis.
 
“Beyond this, we shall continue to support the leadership of the Nigeria Police in their personnel capacity development programmes at the various Police Training facilities.
 
“All these internal security initiatives will of course remain ineffectual if the personnel at the strategic level of policing in Nigeria lack the optimal professional capacity to drive the strategies,’’ he stated.
 
The Inspector General of Police (IG-P), Mohammed Adamu, said earlier in his welcome address that continued engagement of strategic managers and consistent training and retraining of personnel was crucial for effective policing.
 
The participants included all Commissioners of Police , Assistant Inspectors General of Police and Deputy Inspectors General of Police.