MOHAMMED Adamu, Nigerian Inspector-General of Police, will on Friday begin tours to the police formations across the country to boost the morale of officers and men of the Nigerian Police Force.
The IGP’s tour which is to begin from the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) will also assess the level of damages caused by hoodlums to police stations during the fallout of the #ENDSARS protests in some parts of the country.
The police authority in a statement on Friday rejecting reports by Amnesty International, that police officers shot at #EndSARS protesters, disclosed that 22 police personnel were extra-judicially killed during the protest while 205 police stations and formations including other critical private and public infrastructure were also damaged by hoodlums.
The developments were said to have weakened the morale of some men of the force who said they would not resume until the government addressed the killing of their colleagues during the protests.
According to Punch, a top police officer, Nigerian police authorities were also disturbed by the developments, hence, the need for the IGP’s tour.
“The tour by the IG, which is starting in Abuja, is aimed at raising the morale of officers and men of the force many of whom are not happy that the police were blamed for almost all the problems of the country during the protests despite the fact that all sectors have their bad eggs.
“We are not happy with the atrocities of SARS and other bad eggs in the force, but we are sad about the violent dimension the protest took. Many of those people killed were not hoodlums. Also, we lost fine officers and men, who were not found wanting on their duties. Our policemen are not happy that Nigerians are not concerned about the killing of policemen,” Punch said.
Adeniran Aremu, the deputy force spokesman, also confirmed that the IG would on Friday (today) embark on an assessment of the security situation in Abuja and also carry out an on-the-spot assessment of facilities and property destroyed by the hoodlums in the nation’s capital.
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