Members of the public can now officially lodge complaints against police harassment, brutality and extortion in Lagos as the state’s Commissioner of Police, Mr Hakeem Odumosu on Sunday released phone numbers of the Command’s Public Complaint Bureau.
This was contained in a statement by the Command’s Public Relations Officer, SP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, made available to newsmen.
According to Adejobi, the numbers to contact at the command (Public Complaint Bureau) against police unethical behaviours are: 09057597931 (WhatsApp), 09010512350 (OC PCB), 09010512348 and 09090003792, adding that Odumosu has restated his zero tolerance for unethical and inhuman conducts by police officers.
He added: “He has ordered all checkmating units in the command, including provost, X-Squad, CP Monitoring Team and Public Complaint Bureau (PCB), to wake up to their duties and responsibilities as officers.
“The commissioner said that any policeman who deviates from the normal ethics and Standard Operating Procedure of the Nigeria Police within the state will be arrested.”
Adejobi said that Odumosu urged members of the public to identify and report policemen who harass, brutalise and extort them.
“Such identification is sine-qua-non to immediate investigation and disciplinary actions against the erring personnel,” the police officer said.
The release of the phone numbers by the Lagos Command comes as The New Diplomat earlier reported the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu ordered the immediate ban of the activities of Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (F-SARS) and other tactical squads of the police force including other criminal elimination squads operating in federal, zonal and command levels on Sunday.
In a statement released by the Police Force Relations Officer, DCP Frank Mba, the IGP “warned the Tactical Squads against the invasion of the privacy of citizens particularly through indiscriminate and unauthorized search of mobile phones, laptops and other smart devices. They are to concentrate and respond only to cases of armed robbery, kidnapping and other violent crimes when the need arises.”
