The Chairman, Police Service Commission (PSC), Dr. Solomon Arase, has warned officers and men of the Force against acts of professional misconduct, saying appropriate sanctions await those found to have breached existing codes of conduct.
The 18th indigenous Inspector General of Police (IGP) handed down the warning, Wednesday, while constituting a think-tank named Retired Officers’ Consultative Forum.
According to the retired police chief, the platform of mainly ex-Commissioners of Police (CPs) will, among other things, facilitate the much-anticipated harmonious working relationship between the PSC,and the Force Headquarters.
Arase argued that the challenges occasioning modern policing, require discipline among personnel, as well as inter-agency cooperation.
His words: “If there is any misconduct there must be consequences but then, the amount of discipline you dispense, should be appropriate to the offense committed.
“I will not want an officer, who is a DSP (Deputy Superintendent of Police), for instance, to be dismissed from the police force.
“I will prefer, he be reduced in rank because, you have already spent some money in training him; he has handled fire arms.
“So, we are having a discussion around that. We are going to agree that there must be consequences for misconduct; we are not going to tolerate human rights abuses . Then we should look at each case with at close range.
Meanwhile, Arase has assured that the just-inaugurated think-tank will offer new perspectives in Police Commission/Force Headquarters relationship, among other issues of interest.
He said, “It is no news that these two critical institutions of government have engaged in a seemingly perennial conflict of power and interest, which started from disputations over roles and responsibilities and regrettably compounded and snowballed into legal contestations.
“This unsavoury situation is neither commendable nor favourable to our national security, as both institutions have shared commonalities, and will deliver more efficiently on their respective mandates if there is mutual reinforcement, rather than acrimonious relationship anchored on preconceptions, misconceptions, prejudices and distrust against each other.
“In the performance of my duty as the Chairman, PSC, I must admit, however, that the operational knowledge and independence of the Inspector-General of Police must be respected, without also conceding or undermining the powers of oversight of the Commission over the police.
“It is in the spirit of my averred belief of seeing the NPF and PSC work cordially and harmoniously well for the overall betterment of the Nigeria Police Force, reinforced by my decision to focus on Security Sector Reforms (SSR) through training and retraining programmes that I deemed it necessary to form a community of retired police officers, named; Retired Officers Consultative Forum, that will act as the think tank for the Force and PSC, through dispassionate interrogation of issues, generation of ideas and proffering solutions on issues of SSR.
“The Forum, therefore, aims at providing a veritable platform to the retired officers to critically examine contemporary issues and challenges affecting the NPF, and recommend pragmatic and actionable solutions and responses, for optimal functionality of the Force in delivering on its mandate.
He added thus: “It will also avail us the opportunity to leverage on our experiential knowledge, and advise the PSC and NPF on policies and measures that will not only ensure a harmonious working relationship between the two institutions, but also reposition the NPF for greater efficiency and effectiveness in restoring its primacy in internal security in Nigeria.
“Furthermore, the forum will also serve as a platform for eliciting interests, for possible recruitment of members who are interested in participating as resource persons in the training programmes of the Commission, for both members of the two institutions; as well as serving a recruitment platform for recommendation of qualified and competent retired officers for consideration of different appointments.”
