Stories by Ahmed Ajikobi
The Kwara State Commissioner of Police, Kayode Egbetokun has warned that any officer of the command found guilty of extorting members of the public will be charged for armed robbery.
He issued the warning while receiving in audience members of the Ilorin Emirate Durbar Committee in his office on Tuesday.
Egbetokun stressed that the command has zero tolerance for extortion and other acts of indiscipline by men and officers of the command.
“We don’t tolerate extortion or misconduct by our men. We are trying to instill discipline in our men and they are heeding to our warnings. They are responding and cooperating with us,” he stressed.
He, however, said that the command was demoralised by a recent publication sponsored by a group, alleging that our men were extorting the people on the roads.
“It is so demoralising for our men and we find it very difficult to understand why a group will come out like that and make condemnation of the whole command in spite of all our efforts and changes we have made”, the CP lamented.
He added that the publication was meant to disrepute the command and the police as an institution.
“Recently, there was a publication against the command by a group that we are yet to identify. Initially, I thought that it is a faceless group, because there were no facts in everything they wrote. But, I was told that the group actually exists. We have been trying to reach out to them. If there are areas where there are misunderstandings, we want to make clarifications.
“It is not true that what our men only do is extortion on the roads. About two months ago, I had to break my leave to come and address the whole police officers in the state because of a reported case of extortion.
“And I declared that any policeman that is found guilty of extortion while armed, will be charged with armed robbery,” he further said.
Egbetokun said the police was making concerted effort in ensuring that crime is reduced to the barest minimum in the state, adding that the people can now go about their lawful businesses without any fear of attack.
“Our officers are committed. We have tasked all our DPOs and Area Commanders to adapt to the new level of transparency. They have been charged to start doing things that will inspire the confidence of the people in the police.
“We have well-meaning individuals in this state that are partnering with us. We realise that we cannot succeed in isolation of the public,” he stated.
