Police Brutality, Impunity: Arase sets up Complaints Response Unit.
Following the determination of the Nigerian Police leadership to put a stop to the excesses of its personnel and check impunity in the guise of fighting crime in the country, Inspector General of Police, Solomon Arase has ordered the establishment of a Complaint Response Unit (CRU).
Briefing the media on the workability of the special citizen’s complaints unit, yesterday, the Officer in Charge of the unit, CSP Abayomi Shogunle noted that the establishment of the CRU is a danger signal to bad elements in the force that the era of impunity is over and that professional misconduct has not been institutionalized in the force.
“What the police leadership has done by establishing this unit is to send a signal that one; the era of impunity is over and that professional misconduct by police officers are not institutionalized; that is that such officers and their actions are not supported by the Nigeria Police Force.
“It is also to show that necessary actions are being taken by the force to ensure that the gap that existed between the police and the citizens are being closed up.”
The unit which will employ all the social media platforms in getting complaints from members of the public is aimed at addressing incidents of police professional misconducts in real time.
“In a bid to win public trust and confidence, Police forces and departments around the world are becoming more open to the citizens and the public they serve through more transparency and more accountability” Shogunle said adding, “One way is to ensure sustained complaint mechanism through which citizen’s concerns and queries are addressed in real time”.
“Such ways are proving to be one effective process in closing gaps that hitherto existed between the police and citizens in jurisdictions where such is being practiced.
“The CRU will deploy a multi-platform complaint reporting mechanism through which citizens concern and queries regarding police activities will be addressed in real time.
CSP further disclosed that “CRU activities will be operational 24 hours in day and 7 days in a week including weekends and Sundays. Once it is launched, until the end of the world before it goes off. As long as people are living and as long police officers are doing their work, the operations of the CRU continues
“The NPF will ensure that every citizen is protected against any further abuse that could come up as a result of certain complaints,” Shogunle stressed.
END.
