The Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mohammed Adamu, on Tuesday charged officers and men of the Abia State police Abia command to put the events of the #EndSARS protest behind them and approach their duties courageously.
Adamu made the call when he visited the command headquarters in Umuahia as part of his tour of police units and formations across Nigeria to psyche up the operatives following the #EndSARS protests that rocked the country in October.
He urged the police personnel not to be demoralised by the incident but brace up to the challenge.
The IGP stressed that there would be no law and order in society without police on the streets.
According to him, the visit was to appraise the situation in Abia after the protest and encourage the police operatives to go out and discharge their constitutional responsibility.
Adamu said: “It is our constitutional duty that we go out there and do the job. You know the rules of engagement.
“When you get out there, you are empowered, engage the public based on the rules of engagement.
“If in the course of performing your duties and you have followed all the rules of engagement and you make mistakes, nothing will happen.
“We will support you because there is nobody that is above mistakes.
“So you go out there, perform your duties firmly and courageously without the fear of anybody.”
He said the new Police Act, 2020 had given police more legal powers but urged them to be civil while exercising such powers.
The IGP commended the police operatives for exercising maximum restraint during the protest, saying that without them, the country would have been in serious crisis.
He commiserated with families of police personnel who lost their lives during the protest and vowed that such protests would never happen again in Nigeria.
He added: “We are special people and because of that, there are certain pressures we are supposed to absorb.
“You can be provoked but not expected to react in a negative way.
“If we are to end protest of this magnitude or any other one that comes, we have tools that the government, constitution and society give us and that is our firearms.
“You are not just carrying firearms for the sake of carrying it, you are to use it.
“So, if anybody comes, destroys government property, wants to kill innocent Nigerians or he puts your life in danger, use your firearms
“When you are using your firearms, you are not supposed to kill but preserve lives and property.
“Use it to maim such individual. The intention is to incapacitate the person, not to kill him.”
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