By Hassan Zaggi
Nigerians have been advised not to engage men and officers of the Nigeria Police Force in a fight no matter the provocation or unpleasant experience, rather they should report the officer(s) to the right quarters for appropriate action.
The Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO), Olumuyiwa Adejobi (CSP), gave the advice in a statement while reacting to the trending video of civilians assaulting Policemen in uniform in Lagos.
He explained that, “where a public officer acts contrary to the provisions of extant laws, there are channels to report such conduct and get prompt justice, particularly in the Nigeria Police Force.”
He emphasized that: “Furthermore, the Force urges the Nigerian populace not to take laws into their hands whenever they have unpleasant encounters with police officers.
“Complaints arising from such encounters can be reported via the Police Public Relations Officers (PPROs) of the various Commands, the Complaint Response Unit (CRU) and via official Police accounts across social media platforms.
“Similarly, the idea of pouncing on and beating up Law Enforcement Agents carrying out their public duty by members of the public whom they serve, is criminal and disrespectful to our beloved nation, Nigeria, and must not be allowed to exacerbate,” the Force Spokesman said.
He, however, distance the Force from the trending statement with caption- “No Nigerian Has the Right to Retaliate when Police Slaps You… ” which, according to him, was picked out of context.
CSP Adejobi while still commenting on a trending video where some individuals grievously assaulting a police officer, and attempting to disarm the officer by dragging his loaded AK47 rifle, restated the law on serious assault as enshrined on Section 356 (2) of the Criminal Code Act of Southern Nigeria with explanations.
“However, some media platforms deliberately misquoted it as endorsing violence by uniformed officers against members of the public,” he said.
Explaining further, the Force Spokesman said: “In the extant case, the individuals resorted to self-help and assaulted the officers, attempted to snatch the officers’ firearm, and in so doing breached the law.
“It is trite that two wrongs cannot make a right, as such whatever the provocation, the action of the individuals were wrong in all ramifications as they would have reported the matter for prompt action.
“Emphasis on this has clearly been misrepresented across media platforms as a single tweet in a thread was mischievously read out of context with a mischievous caption “No Nigerian Has the Right to Retaliate when Police Slaps You… “.
The Force, therefore, urged well-meaning members of the public all of whom are strategic stakeholders in policing across the country to disregard the malicious publications as the current police administration remained committed to ensuring that the rights of all citizens, uniformed or not, is protected across board.
He, further said that the Nigeria Police Force has been a vanguard of sustainable democracy in the country via the aggressive protection of the fundamental rights of the citizens and other members of the Nigerian society.
This, he said, has been evidential in the continuous sanctions meted out by the Police authority on officers engaged in violation of individual rights, as well as extant laws when reported via any of the available police complaint channels.
