IGP Egbetokun Urges Nigerians To Stop Taking Complaints Against Police Officers To Social Media

Mr. Kayode Egbetokun, the acting inspector general of police, encouraged Nigerians on Tuesday in Ibadan to refrain from complaining about police officers on social media.

The recommendation was made by Egbetokun at a stakeholder gathering held at the police command headquarters in Oyo State.

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According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the leadership of the Central Council of Ibadan Indigenes (CCII) and representatives of traditional and religious leaders attended the stakeholder meeting.

There were representatives from the Igbo and Hausa communities, as well as the Police Community Relations Committee (PCRC).

Egbetokun urged Nigerians to report any complaints they may have against police officers to the commissioners of police or any other senior officer who can guarantee that justice is served.

“Don’t use social media to voice any complaints you may have about the police. Seek advice from the state’s commissioners of police.

“While we can’t promise that every one of our men will act appropriately, some of them will.” Please report this to the CPs or any higher ranking officer who will take it up and see that justice is served.

“There are a lot of falsehoods going on on social media. If you need clarification, go to the Commissioners of Police or Police Public Relations Officers (PPROs),” he said.

A competent, service-oriented, rule-of-law-compliant, and empathetic police force is what Egbetokun claimed the Police Administration was charged with creating.

He stated that he wanted to “ensure citizens sleep with their two eyes closed” and that the police force would be able to adapt to the dynamics of crime and criminality in society.

“Modern policing is community-based, technology-driven and intelligence-led. We are going to focus on community in all the states of the federation. But we are shifting on new policing strategies.

“We are going to adopt community policing by taking cognisance of certain peculiarities of each community through collaboration with other security agencies and state-owned security outfits to fight and reduce crime,” the Acting Inspector-General of Police said.

He urged everyone involved to work together and support one another in order to get things done and rid society of crime and criminality.

Ibrahim Olaniyan, the National Chairman of PCRC, promised in his speech that the committee will be ready to work with the IGP’s community policing plan.

Speaking in his own capacity, Alhaji Niyi Ajewole, Chairman of CCII, claimed that Oyo state and Nigeria as a whole had begun to see positive outcomes since Egbetokun assumed the role of acting I-G.

Ajewole requested that the state add more Police Mobile Units, claiming that the two existing units were insufficient given the size of the state’s area.

The I-G attended the meeting together with the Assistant Inspector-General of Police (AIG) in charge of Zone II of the Force, Yomi Oladimeji, and Deputy Inspector-General of Police (DIG), Sylvester Alabi.

According to NAN, he was accompanied by a number of people, including Adebola Hamzat, the Oyo State Commissioner of Police.