PSC orders policemen back to duty posts nationwide

The Police Service Commission (PSC) has ordered police personnel nationwide to immediately return to their duty posts or face disciplinary action.

There have been reports of police personnel being conspicuously missing in public view, especially in Lagos and Abuja, following the widespread violence that arose from EndSARS protests.

In both cities, the absence of security personnel in public raised fears of possible upsurge in violent crimes. The situation also worsened traffic management.

During the riots, hoodlums attacked several private and public assets, including police stations and personnel.

Reports say no fewer than 22 policemen were killed while 205 stations were either vandalized of torched by rampaging hoodlums. Indeed some anti-riot police personnel that tried to stop them were either killed or maimed.

Apparently, the lucky police personnel shunned their duty posts arguing that their security could not be guaranteed.

But the Police Service Commission (PSC) would not have any of that as excuse.

The PSC said Public Service Rules, which also applies to members of the Nigeria Police Force, prescribes dismissal for any officer that deserts his/her job, while admonishing them to put the killing of their colleagues behind them.

The PSC stressed that policemen do not deserve to be killed and should in fact be protected as fellow human beings, but it however noted that the attack on them by hoodlums should not be an excuse to stay away from work.

PSC spokesperson, Mr. Ikechukwu Ani, said the attacks on the police are not good for the country “because when you make Nigeria lawless and ungovernable, there would be a situation nobody would be able to control.”

He cautioned against further attacks on law enforcement agents, describing such incidents as an ill-wind that could lead to anarchy.

“It would be an ill-wind that blows nobody any good but it is not a reason for anybody to say he won’t go to work. If you don’t go to work, the Public Service Rules will take its course,” he said.

Section 030402 of the Public Service Rules lists absence from duty without leave as serious misconduct, which can be investigated and if proved, may lead to dismissal.

The Chairman of PSC, Musiliu Smith, urged the police to rejig their anti-crime strategies, assuring the personnel of improved welfare.

Smith spoke on Thursday when he inspected some of the damaged police formations in the Lagos State Command alongside some retired senior officers.

The police spokesperson for Lagos State, SP Muyiwa Adejobi, said Smith called for “thorough investigation into all the cases recorded during the crisis. He emphasised that officers and men of the command should take the ugly incident as one of the challenges and hazards of police job in a developing country like ours.”

Meanwhile, the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, has given the police personnel the nod to protect themselves henceforth if they are attacked.

Adamu confirmed that 22 police personnel were killed and 205 stations destroyed during the mayhem unleashed by hoodlums and looters who hijacked the peaceful rallies.