Chief Patrick Osagie Eholor (aka Ultimate Equals), a civil rights campaigner and President of the One Love Foundation, has dragged the authorities of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) for not living up to the expectations of the citizenry.
He was reacting to the recent pronouncement of the acting IGP, Olukayode Egbetokun to withdraw mobile policemen from guardian VIPs.
“It is a welcome development but the people don’t take the police serious. I have lost count of the number of IGPs who when they assume office will promise so much but do nothing at the end. Their promises usually are that they will stop the abuse of power by policemen; withdraw the police from guarding VIPs; abrogate roadblocks on the highways; stop the police from searching people without search warrant etc.
“They have lost their self-esteem. They have been turned to domestic helps. I have always advocated for police reforms. They should stop going to the street to extort innocent citizens for money to buy fuel for their operational vehicles.
“The police now move around with POS machines to withdraw money from the accounts of supposed suspects. This is not the police force that I grew up to know. The Nigeria Police is not even meeting up with the UN requirements of ratio of police to citizens.
“The police needs to be empowered; have better barracks; better pay package; better security gadgets and other enablements. The way that they’re treated is not good and thus they’re transferring their aggression to the citizens.
“I was one of the initiators of the ENDSARS protests. I am proud of that. Prior to that protest I had always warned them that a day will come when the citizens will get tired of their misdeeds and overwhelm them. The police surely need reformation now and I am an advocate of such reformation.
“Talking about VIPs, who is a VIP in Nigeria? Who is not important in Nigeria? The only people that deserve police escorts are governors and the President. I live in Canada. I don’t see policemen attached to ministers or others there.”
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