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| Tompolo |
The Inspector General of Police, Mr Solomon Arase, yesterday disclosed that his men were on the trail of Niger Delta Militant leader, Mr Government Ekpemupolo.
Arase, who also warned police officers against criminalising civil matters said “We are looking for Tompolo and my men are on his trail. We will arrest him anywhere we sight him”.
He made the disclosure yesterday in Ado Ekiti, the Ekiti state capital, during his tour of inspection and duty to men and officers of Ekiti State Police Command.
A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos had a few weeks ago ordered that Mr Ekpemupolo, also known as Tompolo, be arrested over allegation of diversion of public funds slammed on him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The IGP who noted that police cannot cover the whole security space, urged the command to improve on its intelligence gathering through community policing, saying that this remains the best way to get credible information from the public and gain the people’s confidence to combat criminality.
While urging the men and officers to be professional in their conducts, Arase said,” Your conduct in the public must elicit respect and confidence of the people. You should be able to distinguish between civil and criminal matters. The way you enforce the law will determine the respect they accord you. The degree of responsibility of the police is higher than that of the civilians who may not be conversant with the law”.
He added that the police has not been served with the warrant of arrest issued against the embattled secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party in the state, Dr Tope Aluko, saying necessary actions will be taken when they are served.
Commending men and officers of the Command for working hard to combat crime in Ekiti, Arase warned against perpetration of extra-judicial killings, saying it has made the police to incur more litigations and consequently lose more funds to it.
On the welfare of his men, the IGP stated that his administration will provide housing units in all its 36 commands and Abuja, for every rank and file to take ownership of a two-bedroom flat before retirement, while scholarship will be offered to officers to get degree certificates.
“I’m complaining that I have no money to send you for training, why must we now incur more litigations? Because, when I am sued, the Police’s accounts will be garnished .
“Nigerians are more intelligent now, if you infringe on their right, they will go to court and unfortunately the IG will be the person to sue even while he is not there.
“We must learn how to respect the fundamental rights of the citizens. The reason why we normally punish you during extra-judicial offence has been that as trained officers, who carry arms, you owe the responsibility to protect lives and properties and that was why you were trained”, he said.
The Commissioner of Police, Ekiti Command, Mr Etop James, revealed that the command requires a total of 4,206 officers to make up for the shortfall in personnel, describing this as very inimical to their performances.
The CP begged the IGP to order that no officer should be transferred out of Ekiti without immediate replacement.
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