The Assistant Inspector General of Police in charge of Zone Six, AIG Musa Kimo, has slammed some police personnel for contravening deployment orders and getting themselves killed in the process.
The police boss made his displeasure known at the Police Headquarters, Diamond Hill, Calabar while addressing some personnel of the force on Thursday.
He said, “We have problems of deployment in the Nigeria Police Force.
“More than 90 per cent of our personnel that are killed are responsible for their death because, I know even with these manpower problems, we don’t post one person on duty; at least, we post two or three, four or more to duty posts but some of these men will excuse themselves and allow one person on duty. The one officer would be susceptible to death as hoodlums will attack him without resistance.
“When I was Commissioner of Police, Federal Capital Territory (FCT), three police men were posted to somewhere – one inspector and two others. The inspector, because he wanted the two others to say he is a good man, granted permission for one to travel out to Kogi State even though he knew he had no such power and excused the other to be off duty, remaining himself, the good inspector.
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“What happened next, when the hoodlums who had done their homework and knew that he was the only one on duty, not only that, since he was not vigilant and alert because he got himself drunk, carried his rifle kept it somewhere, carried the other and kept somewhere, the criminals visited him and panel beat him and made away with the arms.”
He dlsclosed that the inspector was reduced in rank and was fortunate not to be dismissed from the force.
Kimo added, “For God’s sake, sometimes, I wonder whether we are cursed. We must tell ourselves the truth.
“Some few days ago in Akwa Ibom, three police men attached to a construction company where on duty headed by an inspector.
“The white man decided to move from one place to the other and said he wanted only one policeman to company him, and the foolish inspector agreed and what happened at the end of the day, the one policeman that went with him was killed.
“This is somebody who is married with children and his rifle made away with.
“If they were three, I don’t think what happened would have happened. Most of the things that happened could have been avoided.
“It pains us – IGP, AIGP and CP – when it is said that our man is killed. It pains us, honestly. We are to be blamed, otherwise, why will three be posted but one left alone?”
According to him, “Policing today is a war. Policing in the 60s, 70s, 80s is different from policing now. The situation now is war.
“When I came to Calabar as at 1996, Calabar was a very peaceful town, but what is the situation today? So it call for more vigilance, more commitment.
“These killings can be avoided and we believe in massive deployment, so take the issue of deployment seriously. Take issue of vigilance seriously. Take the issue of alerts seriously so that these hoodlums do not continue to over run us. They too are afraid of us.”