Police Lagos State Command of the Nigeria Police has defended officer who was earlier reported to have dressed indecently while on duty. Lagos Police Command said the reported officer was on a special duty.
Early today, a resident of Lagos State posted a picture on Twitter questioning if the Special Anti Robbery Squad (SARS) of the Nigeria Police is back. He asked this because he sighted a Police officer who was not wearing his uniform while on official duty.
He said "Is SARS back on Lagos roads? Or why are skinny jeans, armed robber looking, gun blazing unmarked men standing on the highway along Lekki-Epe express?
Coming across the tweet, the National Police Public Relations Officer, Olumuyiwa Adejobi condemned the act, and asked the Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin to take up the allegation and investigate into it.
Benjamin Hundeyin has, however, clarified that the police officer in the picture was a member of the police tactical units which was recently put up by the Lagos State Police Commissioner, Idowu Owohunwa to tackle cultism headlong in the state.
In his response, Hundeyin said the officers were going on a special operation before they ran into heavy gridlock and they were assisting to clear the traffic when hid picture was captured by the resident who reported him.
Hundeyin's response read in parts "This officer is a member of the tactical units recently reorganized by @LagosPoliceNG CP Idowu Owohunwa to tackle cultism headlong in Lagos State. His team alongside others were behind the recent arrest of forty-two suspected cultists in a space of two weeks in different parts of the state.
"On this day, they were going for an assignment and ran into a heavy gridlock. Due to how time-sensitive the assignment was, they disembarked to clear the traffic. While a few of them were directing cars to ease the gridlock, others like the one pictured were ‘on guard.’
Police man
"It is important to point out that they all had police identity on them. The jackets had POLICE boldly written behind them. Others had helmets with POLICE boldly inscribed on them. They took adequate care to ensure that.
"You would also agree that many road users applauded them for a job well done. At no point did they engage in stop-and-search, neither were they on routine township patrol.
"Nonetheless, we truly commend you for seeing something and saying something. And we do not rule out the possibility of some police officers in some places appearing this way for stop-and-search and routine patrol (in dissonance with extant regulations).
"We encourage all residents and visitors to Lagos state to emulate @AyoBankole in promptly reporting any misbehavior of our men. My pinned tweet provides numbers to reach. @PoliceNG_CRU is another useful handle to reach.
"You can rest assured that @LagosPoliceNG under the stewardship of CP Idowu Owohunwa will not tolerate any form of unprofessionalism.
Category: World-News
Tag: Police news
Written by Omooba Alekuwodo (omoobaalekuwodo)
Published 4/24/2023 6:01:30 PM