IGP condemns attacks on police officers, orders prosecution of culprits

By Christopher Oji, Lagos

The Inspector General of Police, IGP Usman Alkali Baba, has condemned the recent trend of assault on police officers and men in uniform carrying out official and lawful duties in various locations across the country.

The IGP emphasised that attacks on police officers are illegal and an affront to the rule of law.

The police boss who was speaking because of the incessant attacks on the police, especially in the recent viral video where four persons in a car attacked some officers on duty in Lagos.

The four occupants of the vehicle have been arrested by the police.

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According to Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO) CSP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, “the IGP warned that attacks on police officers and men in the line of duty would no longer be tolerated under whatever guise, as the Force holds the lives of its personnel sacrosanct. Consequently, the IGP has directed all Police Commands and Formations to ensure that individuals who engage in an assault on police officers, irrespective of preceding factors, are made to face the full wrath of the law via swift prosecution in courts of competent jurisdiction.

“The IGP, while reiterating the commitment of the Force to ensuring the protection of lives and property, stressed the importance of according respect to the fundamental rights of Police officers and other security operatives, in order to enable them to advance their sacred mandate of serving and protecting the citizens better and maintenance of law and order.”

Lagos police spokesman SP Benjamin Hundeyin told our correspondent that the suspects involved in the attack were arrested and were being prepared for prosecution. In the viral video, three males and a female occupant of a car were seen fighting the policemen while one of them was trying to disarm an officer and another one was beating another officer.

The cause of the fight remains a mystery as no one was able to explain what really transpired.