Links Police Extortion To Officers Living Above Their Means
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The Deputy Inspector-General of Police in charge of the Force Intelligence Department, DIG Zachariah Fera-Achinyan, has described extortion, human rights abuses and other forms of misconduct by police personnel as signs of unprofessionalism, indiscipline and poor personal conduct.
Fera-Achinyan spoke on Monday during a stakeholders’ engagement and consultative meeting with the Deputy Inspector-General of Police coordinating the North-East, held at the Gombe State Police Command Headquarters.
The DIG said a disciplined police officer must also be a professional officer, adding that professionalism in policing requires sacrifice, contentment and respect for ethical standards.
“A disciplined policeman is always a disciplined policeman. A disciplined policeman is a professional policeman. A professional policeman is a complete policeman,” he said.
According to him, police officers who engage in extortion often do so because they live above their legitimate earnings.
“If you see a policeman indulging in acts of extortion, that policeman is not a good manager of resources. You see a policeman wearing the rank of a corporal and living like a DSP. His salary cannot measure up to that lifestyle, and that tendency is the main driver of extortion,” he said.
He urged members of the public to recognise extortion as a clear departure from the ethics of policing.
“So, a policeman who extorts — something should ring a bell in your brain that he is not a professional policeman. A professional policeman will live within his means,” Fera-Achinyan added.
Recalling what he described as the old culture of modesty in the Force, the DIG said officers were once encouraged to acquire only what their income could sustain.
“In those days, when we joined the police, they would give an officer a loan to buy a car. They would give a corporal the same loan to buy a bicycle. If the corporal wants to drive a car, what will he do? He will go against his calling,” he said.
Fera-Achinyan also condemned other forms of misconduct, including abuse of human rights, drinking while on duty and poor dressing.
“A policeman who extorts money, abuses human rights, drinks while on duty or wears a tattered uniform is not a professional policeman. Run away from such police officers because the moment a police officer is shabbily dressed, he behaves shabbily.
“You cannot see a well-kept policeman behaving in a manner that is not expected of him. That is why we are out to deal with them,” he added.
Speaking on manpower challenges in the Nigeria Police Force, the DIG acknowledged that the country falls short of the United Nations’ recommended police-to-population ratio.
“The United Nations standard is one policeman to 400 people. Nigeria has barely over 300,000 police officers serving a population of more than 200 million people,” he said.
He explained that the shortage of personnel informed the adoption of community policing strategies across the country, saying the police must work closely with communities to secure the environment.
“That is why we brought forward the issue of community policing so that we can work together with communities to police the environment,” he stated.
Fera-Achinyan, however, assured Nigerians that efforts were ongoing to address the manpower gap through fresh recruitment.
“We are about to recruit 50,000 police officers to increase our manpower,” he said.
He disclosed that Gombe State would benefit from the recruitment exercise, with each of its 11 local government areas expected to receive 96 newly recruited officers.
“Each local government in Gombe State will get 96 newly recruited police officers. With this number, I believe they are going to cover a lot,” the DIG concluded.
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