Quoting recent media publications, Assistant Inspector General (AIG) of Police, Zone 2 command, Joseph Mbu, has said that he is always quoted out of context.

Mbu, in a worded statement signed by the Zonal Police Public Relations Officer, Olugbemiga Adeoye, decried that such publications portrayed Mbu in bad light, as an officer who does not uphold the rule of law.

Debunking reports making the rounds that he ordered policemen to shoot and kill innocent civilians if any policeman is killed, Mbu said he only reminded his policemen not to be cowardly, but to be guided by Force Order 237 with the use of their firearms.

Affirming obeisance to the rule of law, he maintained that the Force Order 237 statutorily sanctioned defence by members of the society, including fellow police officers, when their lives were in danger.

On the issue of the alleged order for the arrest of governors at polling units credited to the him, the statement in part read: “The command wishes to confirm that the AIG was clearly and deliberately quoted out of context, as what he said was that no highly-placed individuals in the society, who have police escorts and other forms of personal guards would be allowed within the voting areas accompanied by such retinue of escorts.”

Warning against any violent attack on men of the Nigeria Police under his zone, Mbu held that such would be met with appropriate force, as the police was empowered by the law.

“There is no society in the world where policemen will be killed by hoodlums and the perpetrators will be allowed to escape justice. If the police are being lectured continually to respect the rights of the citizenry and punished for any infraction of such, the right to life of the police should equally be respected.”

Noting insinuations in the public that Mbu was deployed to the command to manipulate the forthcoming elections, the command stressed that Mbu was only posted to Zone 2 command as part of routine police postings by the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr Suleiman Abba.

“The command, therefore, wishes to assure members of the public that no publication, no matter how offensive, will intimidate or make the AIG to lose focus of his statutory duties and succeed like his predecessors,” the statement read.

Source: TRIBUNE