By Ahmed Ajikobi
The Kwara State Commissioner of Police, Kayode Egbetokun has received seven petitions against men of the command.
The petitions were handed over to him by the team leader of the #EndSARS Judiciary Inquiry Panel, Justice Issa Babatunde Garba (rtd) on Thursday.
Justice Garba, commended the Commissioner of Police for making peace reign in the state, adding that it’s unarguably that Kwara is one of the most peaceful state in Nigeria.
Speaking on the petition, he stated further that, the Panel created channels through which petitions or complaints made could be properly filed.
“We are making use of room 341 Governor’s Office. We also asked petitioners to submit their petition at the Court of Appeal. We also made use of other channels such as Whatsapp, twitter and email,” he explained.
He disclosed that the Panel had received seven petitions on police brutality most especially from operatives of the disbanded SARS.
“We received the petitions between 26th of October and 8th of November, 2020 and decided to deliver the petitions to you, so that you can inform affected officers,” he added.
Responding, CP Egbetokun appreciated the team for a job well done, adding that, since he assumed office in the state, there had not been record of extra judicial killing by the police.
The Police boss said that he made his contact available to members of public for any complaint.
“In June this year I dismissed six police officers, and a number of officers have been reduced in rank while others are serving punishment for various offences,” he disclosed.
Egbetokun expressed interest in the petitions, adding that he thought that the panel wouldn’t get any petition.
“We thought we had done what we were supposed to do by sensitizing our men. We don’t take any complaint lightly, we investigate and follow it to the logical conclusion. When policemen are found guilty of any offence, we punish them.”
Speaking on the proscribed SARS, he said the operatives of the unit in Kwara helped to crack robbery but stressed that they don’t go scot free when found wanting.
“Between May this year and when SARS was disbanded the operatives had arrested 27 suspects and recovered 15 AK7 riffle,” he disclosed.
