Arase: Police lost 359 officers in the last 2 years

At least 359 policemen were killed on duty between January 2014 and April 2016, Solomon Arase, the inspector-general of police, has said.

Arase said this during a lecture at the University of Jos (UNIJOS).

He said 272 policemen sustained various degrees of injuries within the same period, adding that the casualties occurred while intervening in civil conflicts.

Arase said the officers paid the supreme price “to enhance community peace and security in the country”.

He said the killing of police personnel had steadily been on the rise since 2009 due to attacks by Boko Haram insurgents in the north-east.

Arase said that police personnel required diverse skills to tackle modern crimes, “especially since criminal elements are arming themselves with more sophisticated arms”.

According to him, the work of policemen has become more difficult in societies like Nigeria, where there are a mutual distrust between the police and the public.

Arase said assistance to the police was often withheld by the citizens, affecting the security men from discharging their duties.

He said the factors that undermine effective partnership between the citizens and the police had their roots in the circumstance in which the police emerged in the country.

The inspector-general said policing had been made a tough task due to the inability of the country to introduce required reforms for the re-orientation of the inherited police forces.

The others were lack of resources and skills, widespread disrespect for the law by the citizens across all the sectors and strata of the society.