THE Nigeria Police Force (NPF) has dismissed reports that the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Tunji Disu, has ordered the disbandment of all Police units and tactical squads in state Commands across the country.
A report on Sunday, March 22, claimed that the IGP ordered the disbandment during a virtual meeting with senior officers.
However, the Force spokesman, Anthony Placid, in a statement, said the report was a “misrepresentation” of the IGP’s directive.
Placid said Disu was aware of public concerns about the operations of tactical squads and creation of multiple teams by commissioners of Police and heads of formations and understands that the proliferation “drains” Police divisions of required manpower.
As a result, he said the IGP directed the reduction of the tactical teams at zonal levels and state Commands to a maximum of five, and area command and divisional levels to a maximum of three, excluding outfits created by the state government.
According to him: “This can be achieved by merging or disbanding teams, at the heads of formations’ discretion.
“The teams referred to exclude state government-created outfits like Lagos’ Rapid Response Squad, Oyo’s SRS and Bayelsa’s Operation DOO-AKPOR and other similar outfits across the country.
“The IGP expects this move to free personnel for Police Stations, reducing complaints about tactical team excesses.
“Having emphasised accountability and a people-friendly Force in his maiden address to Nigerians, the IGP took this step to enhance supervision of existing teams, strengthen Police divisions and remove causes of complaints against the Force by the public.”
Recall that SaharaReporters had reported that the IGP disbanded all Police squads and units at state command levels.
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