The National Association of Nigerian Students, Tuesday, has commended the Inspector-General of Police, Alkali Usman, on the recent clamp down on erring police officers in the country.
In a statement signed by the National President, Sunday Ashefon, and made available to The PUNCH, the association noted that students were the greatest victims of the erring officers and therefore called on the IGP and the Force to continue to maintain stricter enforcement.
“The recent clampdown on erring officers within the Nigerian Police Force has caught our attention at the National Association of Nigerian Students. We have seen the various disciplinary measures handed out to erring police officers in recent months. This is undoubtedly the boldest effort to sanitise the Police Force in our recent history and we commend the exceptional commitment of the IGP, to discipline and professionalism within the force.
“You will agree that students across the nation are the major victims of the bad eggs within the Police Force. They harass, intimidate and extort students at gunpoint under the guise of checking their phones. So, the banishment of indiscriminate searching of phones, extortion of citizens at gunpoint, and the use of Point of Sale machine for extortion by the bad eggs in the Nigerian Police Force is not only commendable, but it provides the platform for more collaboration between the people and the Police Force in the fight against insecurity in the country.
“The IGP’s pro-activeness in fighting the scourge of indiscipline, unprofessionalism, and corruption within the Force is a clear testament to his undying passion to return the Force to an era of unprecedented professionalism, probity, and accountability as many rogue police officers have been held accountable for their actions in recent months. We, therefore, offer our solidarity and support to the exceptional job the IGP is doing in reforming the Nigeria Police Force from within and placing it on the pedestal of quality service delivery to the people.
“It is our belief that a less corrupt Police Force will be better positioned to fight insecurity in the country and earn the trust of Nigerians in the areas of intelligence and information sharing. As we commend the IGP for his great work, we encourage him not to relax in his effort to sanitise the system as Nigerian students stand solidly behind him and his reform agendas.
“We call on all security agencies to do their best in providing security to Nigerians and refuse the temptation to use their privileged position to harass, intimidate and extort the citizens they are paid to protect. As long as the Nigerian Police continue in this internal reforms to reposition the force, Nigerian students across the country will continue to cooperate and collaborate with the force and its leadership to enhance their capacity to fight insecurity, ” the statement read.
