A civil society group, United Young Professionals is canvassing a positive image for the Nigerian Police Force, urging Nigerians to see the Police as agents of law enforcement and positive change rather than just a platform for corruption.

Adewole Kehinde, Coordinator of the group, in a statement issued on Wednesday in Abuja, expressed the view that “until we unveil our caged senses to see beyond our peculiar fogginess, we shall continue to unfairly belittle the Police and by the break of dawn, we shall only discover to our national shame that we have security agents garbed in official uniforms, but very unwilling to protect us, because of our expressed ingratitude to their sacrifices, having deliberately failed to appreciate them and preferring to cast aspersions and dark shadows on the Police, as good only as agents of darkness.”

Adewole further reiterated that most critics of the Nigeria Police have never mentioned the statistics of high profile crimes that have been combated under the Inspector General of PoliceI (IGP) brahim Idris.

He declared that the IGP has introduced reforms in the Nigerian Police Force, “initiating an insidious spy squad to trail and expose erring and corrupt Police Officers for appropriate sanctions.

“And for the first time, the Nigeria Police Force is not shielding its corrupt or erring officers who act as cogs in its determination to battle crimes of all dimensions.

“Not totally absolving the Nigerian Police Force of blame, rather than see the Police in a totally bad light, we are also to see the reforms in the Force that have worked to change the Police and make it come alive to its responsibilities; having disciplined and courageous personnel, with eyes fixated on integrity in consonance with the Change mantra of the President Muhammadu Buhari regime.

“It created its own internal disciplinary and punitive mechanisms against any officer who traduces the new creed of conduct as proclaimed by IGP Idris. Just recently, a Police officer in the famed case of the University of Port Harcourt suspected ritualist in Police custody, who escaped was arrested by the Police itself and arraigned in court for official negligence.”

The group also stated that worthy of commendation, are the arrest of suspected billionaire kidnap kingpin, Chukwudumeme Onwuamadike, (a.k.a Evans) who had an amazing network and terrorised Nigerians for years; and also the case of the brave cops, who confronted some armed robbers during a robbery operation at Zenith Bank in Owerri, Imo State, and paid the supreme price. They had the option of abandoning their arms and ammunitions and scurrying for safety, but they patriotically executed the duty of defending Nigerians unto their graves.

“We cannot have the Police of our desire if we continue to ridicule the reformatory efforts of a crack Police officer, like IGP Ibrahim Idris who has devoted time and energy to rebrand the Police in combating crime in our country,” Adewole concluded.

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