The Police Service Commission (PSC) has condemned the wave of attacks on police personnel in the country, especially in Delta and Imo states, insisting that the time has come for police commands to rise to the occasion.
In a statement on Sunday in reaction to the recent killings in the two states, the commission chairman, Solomon Arase, questioned the competence of the commissioners of police in both states.
A statement signed by the Commission’s spokesman, Ikechukwu Ani, noted that slain officers were also Nigerians who deserved the support, encouragement and protection of the citizens.
TheNGblog reported on Saturday that the Nigeria Police Force said six officers were killed in an ambush in Delta State by armed assailants.
SaharaReporters reported on March 6, how a combined team of security agents and local vigilantes recovered decomposing corpses of some police officers allegedly killed by herdsmen.
The corpses were discovered during a search and rescue operation for missing three police officers in Ohoror community in the Ughelli North Local Government Area of the state.
SaharaReporters gathered that the officers went missing on January 24, 2024, after responding to a distress call by one Moses Progress, following an attack by herdsmen while performing sacrifice to the gods of the river under a bridge.
Following their disappearance and a distress call, a combined team of security operatives and local vigilantes went in search of the officers in a nearby forest.
It also reported that some gunmen attacked and killed two policemen attached to MOPOL 18, Owerri, Imo State, while they were on patrol in the Okigwe area of the state.
Imo State has been a hotbed for violence after police declared war on secessionists, killing and burning their houses and communities.
This time the gunmen allegedly threw dynamite at the police patrol vehicle and engaged the policemen in a gunfight along Old Gariki Road.
But reacting to the unabated attacks, the PSC chairman described it as unacceptable, adding that “the killings in some states across the nation has become worrisome.”
He, however, called on the Inspector-General of Police, Olukayode Egbetokun, “to take another look on the capacity of state command leadership in the country”.
“There must be consequences for these avoidable incidents,” he said.
The statement partly read: “Any state Commissioner of Police found incompetent, derelict, and operationally/tactically porous should be eased out to avoid these huge police casualties.
“The commission wishes to condole the Inspector-General of Police, Dr. Olukayode Egbetokun, on these unfortunate developments, especially at a time when all hands are supposed to be on deck to rid the nation of militancy and banditry.
“The commission has had more than a fair share of these ugly developments in recent times and called for integrated intelligence policing.”
He also offered his condolences to the families of the slain officers and said that the time had come for state command commissioners to rise to the occasion.
It, however, “enjoined the serving officers not to be demotivated by these ugly developments but to reenact their indomitable fighting spirit that the Force is known for to ward off this new wave of assaults.”.
