Police Sacks 10 Police Officers For Extortion In Two Years, Recovered And Returned N11.1 Million And $800 To Owners
The Nigeria Police through its Public Complaints Rapid Response Unit (PCRRU) has revealed that it recovered N11.1 million naira and $800 being the amount extorted from citizens by errant Police officers from November 13, 2015 and November 13, 2017.
According to the report by the Head of PCRRU, Abayomi Shogunle, who is an Assistant Commissioner of Police, (ACP), said the police authority received 7,216 cases of professional misconduct by men of the force in the past two years.
The PCRRU report also hinted that Lagos, Rivers and the FCT commands recorded the highest number of complaints against policemen while Sokoto, Yobe and Kebbi states recorded the lowest.
Shogunle revealed that 5,927 of the cases were resolved amicably; 729 still pending and 560 were found to be false.
He added that 1,820 of the cases were requests for bail from members of the public and that 328 were for benefits while 278 centered on distress calls.
He said that 81 officers were sanctioned during the period for various professional misconducts – 10 officers were dismissed for professional misconduct; one reprimanded; 64 others given various punishments; four officers had their ranks reduced, while two were suspended.
He revealed that the highest ranking officer sanctioned during the period is an Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP). Also the report shows that 87, 600 telephone calls were received; 5,175 were treated as complaints while 4, 207 e-mails were received on complaints.
He pointed out that there was need to strengthen the capacity of the unit to take more calls from members of the public, noting that majority of the people preferred sending their complaints via telephone.
Shogunle, who canvassed for more powers for the police, said such powers should not be without severe sanctions in case of abuse by officers.
“The police should be given more powers and severe sanctions should also be visited on officers, who abuse their positions,” he said.
The PCRRU Chart Below:
